We've Got Tonight
by Sheniqua 17
Summary: SEQUEL TO: If I Were a Boy. 6 Years in the future after graduation, see how the Glee Club has grown and how this Christmas will be a very interesting one. Rated T for now
1. Chapter 1

**Alright everyone, here is the (beginning) of the sequel to If I Were A Boy and we're going do a little "What happened last time on Glee":**

Rachel and Puck were forced to do a solo after Finn and Quinn jumped boat; a friendship soon blossomed after several arguments and even a rumor they were more than Glee-mates. Puck invited Rachel to Finn's Halloween party and after one too many, they went back to Puck's house. Santana and Quinn didn't like what they saw so they blackmailed Rachel with a video of the Halloween party and Puck with the truth about the baby. Rachel tried to find a way around the Cheerio's but Puck dropped the bomb about being the baby daddy. Finn broke up with Quinn and beat Puck up shortly afterwards; the next day he and Rachel started an estranged relationship.

5 months passed by and the group is at Regional's. Quinn carried her baby to almost to term but it was still severely premature and passed away. Finn and Rachel broke up but remained really close. Quinn and Puck tried dating but they were way too different. Because the baby passed away, Terri had to tell Will the truth and they ended up getting a divorce and now he and, the still single, Emma are dating. Quinn was humbled by having and losing the baby and turned over a new leaf that shocked everyone. Will told Rachel and Puck he wanted them to perform their solo at Regional's and during their rehearsal, Puck kissed her. Rachel ran back to her room and Quinn told her Puck still loved her. After their performance, Kurt took it upon himself to act as Cupid and made Rachel up before he and Tina dropped her off at his and Puck's room. After an amazing night of "making up", Rachel decides to ask Puck about his little girl, they talk a little about what happened in the five months they were apart and

**That's what you missed on…**

**Glee!**

**^_^ Sorry couldn't help myself! Next chapter is the actual story so, ONWARD!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okaley-Dokely! Here is the first chapter of We've Got Tonight…^_^ Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I do not…own…Glee.........and now, I'm going to go in a corner and cry…listening to all the Glee Cast Albums I've bought........**

_Rachel stood there, her wide grin covering up the slight pain she felt as she gripped the shiny black leather tightly. She turned and smiled as a flash sparked across her eyes. She turned and walked back; gripping the flower she was handed tightly. Standing between Tina and Mercedes, with the final words spoken, they all lifted their hats and threw them in the air. Rachel glanced around. Quinn and Finn were hugging each other tightly. Matt had pulled Mercedes to the side and was talking to her with a wide smile, Brittany and Mike were in an ahhhh-ing embrace and Tina and perched on Artie's lap, a wide grin across both of their faces. She saw him; staring at her. He tipped his head to her and turned walking off toward the exit, his mother and brother following him. Rachel wanted to run over there and enjoy this moment with him but she was stopped by Kurt and the others who pulled her into a picture. She forced a smile and the flash hurt her eyes. _

Rachel jerked up as her shades were thrown back and the light from the New York sunrise sprawled across her face. Groaning slightly, she flopped back into the plush pillow top mattress and grumbled. She was usually an early riser, ready to go exercise before a day of rehearsals and choreography. But this morning after a night filled with a great after party; all she wanted to do was sit in the dark with obscene amounts of water, Advil, and toast. She felt her bed lean to the side and a pair of lips pressed against her temple.

"Wake up, Rach; you need to get ready for your trip." That's right! She was taking her annual Christmas trip home! Rachel untangled herself from her sheets and smiled at the person who woke her. Victor DeMarkus was tall, athletic and talented. She had met him while they worked on West Side Story together and they had started dating. That was her first year out of Lima. Rachel gave him a soft kiss on his thick lips. Victor's icy blue eyes softened as she slid out of the bed and pulled on her robe. Most of her bags were packed and she was so excited to go home this time. Most of her other trips home were merely for a day or two before she had to rush back for more of her plays; but this time, she had a whole two weeks off to be with her dad's. That and Victor was going with her this time. As she got dressed, she looked at Victor. His dark hair was longer and curly, falling slightly into his icy blue eyes. His lips were thick and offset his strong square jaw nicely; his pale skin was dusted lightly with freckles. He wore a nice button down white shirt and black slacks along with his Italian shoes. He noticed her looking at him as he packed his carry on.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just happy to be headed home and am ready to introduce my fiancé to my parents." Rachel smiled warmly at him as she wandered over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He placed his hands on her hips,

"Are you going to get ahold of any of your friends? From high school?" Rachel rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. She hadn't thought about getting ahold of anyone from Glee. She knew that Kurt and Mercedes always came home for Christmas, Artie and Tina didn't leave Lima, Quinn and Finn hadn't left either. She was almost certain that Matt, Brittany and Mike were still around and she had no idea where Santana went. And Noah…Puck. Puck left. She sighed and looked back into Victor's eyes.

"Maybe. It might be fun to see them again." Victor lifted the corner of his mouth in a half grin as he lowered his head to hers. Pressing his lips to her forehead, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"We better keep packing; we have to be at the airport in an hour."

The flight home was uneventful except for the odd person asking for an autograph. Rachel smiled warmly at Victor as they touched down in Cleveland and made their way quickly to their rental car. The car ride home was three hours and both Victor and Rachel were running out of steam. Victor hoped in the driver's seat of the shiny BMW 6 series coupe as Rachel looked around the cold state. There was pretty high snowfall but the road was plowed and a thick layer of sand lay on top. The sky was clear and blue and it was cool. Rachel slid into the car and leaned the seat back. They were going to stop in Toledo where they would switch drivers and Victor could get some sleep. Rachel shut her eyes but her mind wouldn't stop running through what she was going to do. She wanted to get ahold of everyone from Glee but it had been 6 years after all. She felt the car slow to a stop and Victor's warm hand press on her shoulder.

"Rach? We're in Toledo." He whispered into her ear. She set her seat up and switched seats with Victor. He leaned back and easily fell asleep. He was out like a light, which allowed Rachel to crank up the radio and sing along. She usually didn't listen to the radio and preferred her CD's, but being in a rental, she made the exception. She had been driving for an hour before that song came on. She slowly began to sing along even though her breath still caught in her throat. As the last note rang through the speakers, Rachel switched the radio station and focused on driving. She did not need to think about N-Puck, before she got home. She slowed the car as they pulled into the city limits of Lima. A wide smile came across her face as she cruised through the town. She kinda hoped to go to the old high school, but school was out for the day. She pulled up to the curb outside of her dad's two story house. She stared at it for a moment with a small smile tugging at her lips. She shook Victor awake before they got out and she ran up the concrete sidewalk, carefully, and knocked excitedly on the door. Her Daddy, Michael answered the door and his jaw dropped in shock.

"Dan!" He cried out before wrapping her up in a warm hug, her Dad ran around the corner and froze,

"Rachel?" he breathed as he too came up and wrapped her arms around the both of them,

"Who is this?" Her daddy pulled away and looked passed her. Rachel pulled away and smiled,

"This is Victor." She turned to look at him before turning back to them and holding out her left hand, "He proposed!" Her fathers' looked at him with wide eyes and she knew what they were thinking. They were thinking about Puck. They had liked him and they hadn't really met Victor…at all. Victor went up to them and shook their hands warmly as Rachel helped pull in their bags into the warm house.

"What're you two doing here so early?" Michael asked as he sat them down and bustled into the kitchen.

"Well, I just finished the last showing of Wicked and Victor finished with Les Mis, so we decided that we would take some time off and come here. Victor wanted to meet you and knew that I always came here for Christmas, so he's going to join us." Her dad nodded slowly watching him.

"Are you going to call anyone? I mean, I know Tina teaches at the high school and Artie give guitar lessons. Will Schuester is still at the high school too, along with his bride of four years, Emma. They have a little boy now." Her dad tilted his head to Rachel as her jaw went slack. She didn't think that Emma would have a child with all the messes, but then again, Mr. Schuester was pretty good at getting people to relax.

"Is anyone else still here?" Rachel asked hopefully,

"Well, I know Mercedes took on the family business and is working at her dad's dentist office, Matt is still here but I'm unsure of what he's doing. Mike and Brittany just got married and are on their honeymoon in Paris. Finn and Quinn should be coming home here in the next week or so, we still keep in touch with his mother, such a lovely woman." Michael came out with mugs of probably tea and set them down on the glass coffee table.

"What about Noah?" She asked in a small voice. Her dad's looked at one another and Dan fiddled with his mug,

"We haven't seen him since your graduation, but his mother says he's doing fine." Rachel nodded and let it go. She had told Victor that Puck was her first boyfriend, and nothing else. Not about that night during Regional's, not about senior year, not about their horrible fight. Rachel felt her heart sink at the thought of the fight and she shook herself mentally.

"You kids must be starving!" Michael interrupted her thoughts, know that she was hurting at the memory, "We didn't know you were coming or else we would have created an elaborate meal." He wasn't kidding, Rachel knew this. He created a seven course meal for when Puck came over for his first meal with her fathers. "There is this nifty little restaurant that we're almost certain you will love."

**^_^ I hope you like so far and if you are frustrated with all the questions, don't worry! But it might take a while for me to get plenty of chapter up to explain all the questions, so maybe worry a tiny bit…BUT that's what makes these stories fun! ^_^ well, for me…anyways, R & R, thanks all!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Not wasting any time with this one. Thanks for all the reviews and add's, you guys rock! ^_^ R & R**

Rachel stepped into the warm restaurant with Victor, his hand place delicately on the small of her back, and her dad's. The little waitress running around giving people drinks smiled at them before she gave Rachel and Victor a double take and all but dropped to her knees,

"Oh my God! Rachel _Berry_ and Victor _DeMarkus_! I-I-I'm your biggest fan! I loved watching you in West Side Story!" She abruptly squeaked before sprinting into the kitchen. Rachel looked at her dad's, who had a small smile on both of their faces,

"You knew she was a fan?" She asked while gesturing toward the kitchen door. Her Daddy nodded while her Dad pointed back toward the door. Rachel turned and found Matt Rutherford beaming at her.

"Matt!" She cried out with a smile. Striding forward, she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug,

"How have you been, Rachel?" He muttered as his big body enveloped her,

"I've been…great! This," she waved Victor over, "is my fiancé, Victor DeMarkus." She heard a squeaked behind him and the door shut. Matt laughed as he let Rachel go and shook Victor's hand,

"Nice to meet you." He said curtly before looking back at Rachel, "That's my cousin, originally from New York. Kinda reminds me of you. She's a huge fan if you couldn't tell and having a cousin and his wife who know Rachel Berry; Needless to say, she was ecstatic when her family moved here." Rachel smiled before furrowing her eyebrows,

"A cousin and his wife?" Matt gave her a big smile,

"Yeah, uh…Mercedes and I." Rachel's jaw dropped and she leapt up, giving him another warm hug.

"That is amazing, Matt! I was hoping to visit with everyone on this trip, especially since I'm here for two weeks."

"You're actually staying longer than your usual two-day visit?" Rachel gave him a look as he gave her the same look before breaking it with a grin, "Well, I'll be sure to tell Mercedes. We're actually going to have a dinner with Tina and Artie on Friday; we can invite Kurt, Finn and Quinn too." Rachel nodded enthusiastically.

"That would be great! Um, what about Puck?" She asked slowly and quietly; new news in this town spread like wildfire. Matt sighed and scratched his arm,

"Last I knew he was still gone." Rachel nodded and glanced back at her dad's. "Here, let's get you guys sat down."

"Matt!" He turned around and Rachel peered behind him. His cousin stood there, her hands on her hips and a shocked look on her face, "Are you actually going to _charge_ Rachel Berry and-?" Matt turned back around to Rachel, who smiled,

"It's no trouble. I'm glad to give your cousin a nice tip."

"In that case, let's get you seated immediately." His cousin bustled by them, already holding the menu's as she scoped out a booth to seat them in. Rachel smiled at him and gave him one last hug before following her dad's and Victor to a booth that seemed to be far away from all the other filled tables.

"You guys knew didn't you?" Rachel pointed at her Dad and Daddy and they gave her an eager smile,

"Of course we knew honey! What? You think we just happened to pick the restaurant that Matt owns and have no idea that his cousin is a huge fan of yours?" Her Daddy smirked lightly while she swatted his hand playfully. His cousin came back over and introduced herself before taking their orders. Diana was only 18 and had joined the Glee club after she had found out that was where Rachel had gotten her start. She hurried off after giggling uncontrollably at Victor and twisting her long, curly hair almost in a knot. Rachel felt Victor wrap his arm around her and she laid into his warmth. A short flashback of doing the same with Puck swarmed her mind like how it did every time she did anything intimate with Victor and she shook her head. He looked at her with concern briefly before his head snapped up at the sound of a high pitched scream. Rachel shot up too and saw Mercedes running toward her; a little boy in her arms staring at his mother with wide eyes. Rachel leapt up and hugged Mercedes tightly as the now full grown woman practically jumped up and down.

"Rachel! It is so good to see you!" she cried out as she squeezed Rachel's body tighter. She pulled away and readjusted the little boy who was staring at Rachel's hair intensely and gestured to him, "This is Tyrone. His twin brother, Jerome, should be coming in here pretty quick." Sure enough, Rachel looked passed Mercedes to the door and found Kurt hurrying in with another little boy in his arms. Kurt passed the little boy off to Mercedes and enveloped Rachel in a hug as well as a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh my God, girl, you look good! Broadway is definitely treating you well." Rachel smiled at Kurt's comment and then he looked past her and muttered in a small voice, "Very, very well." Rachel turned and set her hand on Victor's arm and looked at her friends with a grin,

"Mercedes, Kurt, this is Victor DeMarkus, my fiancé." Kurt's jaw dropped and Mercedes eyebrows shot up.  
"Really?" Mercedes tone said what everyone was thinking, again!

"Really Mercedes." Rachel said confidently. Victor stood and shook Kurt and Mercedes hand warmly even though he was wondering why every one of Rachel's friends was questioning him. She could read it in his face.

"Well, Matt told me about you coming over to see Tina and Artie and everyone and I am going all out. I got ahold of Finn and Quinn and Brittany and Mike will be back at the beginning of next week, so we'll get them here as soon as possible." She smiled almost evilly at her and Rachel raised an eyebrow at the smile.

"Have you heard anything about Santana?" Rachel decided to ignore the smile; there was nothing she could do to stop Mercedes if she had planned something,

"Honey, that girl found herself a sugar daddy and is sipping Mai Tai's on the beach of her own private island…bitch stole my man." Kurt murmured and Mercedes and Rachel giggled uncontrollably. Mercedes stopped abruptly and swatted his arm,

"Don't cuss in front of my kids!" Kurt rolled his eyes while nursing the spot she hit.

"Well, we're going to stop interrupting your meal and get back to the house." Mercedes passed off Jerome to Kurt again and gave Rachel a one armed hug. "Good to see you girl," she released Rachel and looked at Victor, "And it was nice to meet you." Kurt, too, gave Rachel a hug and acknowledged Victor before he and Mercedes bustled out of the restaurant whispering hurriedly to one another. As Rachel and Victor slid back into the booth, Diana returned with their meals and drinks. Victor was practically silent the entire meal, which was delicious, and Rachel peered at him curiously as they entered the house. It was pitch black outside by now and freezing. Even though it was only six, her dad's excused themselves and went to their bedroom; they had a ritual of watching Jeopardy, making their plans for the next day and then drinking a glass of red wine while reading for an hour. Rachel and Victor sat down in the wide family room on the plush couch, their glasses of white wine sitting on the glass table, untouched. Rachel lay across the couch, her feet sitting in Victor's lap; he rubbed them unconsciously while staring at the gas fireplace that warmed the house.

"What's wrong, Victor?" Rachel asked, pulling her feet away and curling them underneath her body. She leaned over to him and played with the sleeve of his shirt gently.

"Why is it, when you introduce me as your fiancé, your old friends get the same look on their faces?" He looked her dead in the eye. She stopped fidgeting with his shirt and licked her lips.

"My old boyfriend, Noah, and I were pretty serious." Victor watched her as she flicked her hair back from her face and looked around the room. Her dad's had their picture from Regional's still on their hope chest in the back of the room, and the one over summer break from junior to senior year…and the one at graduation. "Everyone was sure we were going to get married, but we had a fight. It was pretty bad too. I ended up not going to school for a few days I was so broken up over it. He, uh, he apologized when I got back but we didn't get back together. All of our friends were certain that we'd get back together but, he left over the summer and we never kept in touch."

"Did he…hit you?" Victor asked concern in his eyes. Rachel jerked back,

"Noah would never hit me, let alone any girl! Sure, he beat up several other boys while defending his, mine and other Glee clubbers honor but, he'd never hit a girl." Victor nodded, his body relaxed slightly at that,

"What was the fight about?" Rachel swallowed and shook her head,

"I, uh…" she shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes at the memory. Victor let it go and pulled her into his warm body. Rachel lavished in the close contact, but in the very deep corners of her mind, she wished it was Puck's body instead. His thick wide shoulders cutting down to his lean waist and…Rachel squeezed her eyes shut trying to get that mental image out of her head while she was with her _fiancé!_ She stood and took his hand while wandering up to her room. She needed to forget about Puck for now and enjoy the time she had with her family, Victor and her dearly missed second family.

**Okay, another chapter knocked out and hopefully you all liked. Not gonna lie, I'm very tired right now and sorry if it seemed like an abrupt ending; I will definitely make sure the next chapter is a good one! ^_^ R & R! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter, don't worry, Puck will enter in soon. Gotta build up the anticipation…ALSO!! Read on E! online (they have videos of the upcoming Glee episode "Wheels"! ^_^) that they are considering dropping their Rachel/Finn "TV Couples We Love" picture for Rachel/Puck. YAYS! I do like Finn, I just think he reminds me too much of the football knuckleheads I had in my high school…anyways, I'm going to stop jibber-jabbering at you and let you read on, unless you skipped that all the anyways, in which case…right….R & R! ^_^**

Rachel was up hours before Victor. Sneaking downstairs, she went to the pictures that she had spotted last night. Picking them up, she wandered over to the couch and plopped down. The one from Regional's was after their performance. They were standing there waiting to hear who had gotten first. Rachel felt the rush of emotions she had felt at that same time as she stared at the photo. Noah had his arms wrapped around her and had perched his chin on her head. Rachel knew that the whole team was in the photo but she couldn't stop staring at him. She set down the photo and looked at the next one. Rachel had taken this photo. It was the last day of summer before their senior year and she was perched on Noah's lap on a swing set at the park, smiling at the camera but Noah was smiling at her. She was disappointed he wasn't looking at the camera but the look on his face gave her goose bumps even now. Rachel set the photo down carefully on the coffee table and looked at the last one. Noah wasn't in this picture and Rachel's smile was fake and full of pain. Everyone else looked amazing; their smiled gorgeous, some of their cheeks were still dewy from crying, and their eyes were shining with unshed tears, whether it be of joy, remembrance or in Rachel's case, lose. She grabbed up the picture of Regional's and the graduation one and took it back to the hope chest. She eventually set the empty frame of the other photo on the chest as well before quietly making her way upstairs and into the shower. School was starting soon and she wanted to get there soon. Victor was still out like a light, so she left him a note, got dressed and hurried out to her old car. She traced her fingers over the dusty blue paint job of her car. It had been a graduation present from her father's since she gave her old one to Mrs. Puckerman after theirs had several expensive mechanical problems. She was never a huge car fanatic like how Tina was, (now that she thought about it Tina was a fanatic about a lot of stereotypical "boy things": Football, cars, sports in general, video games…) but she loved her new car with a passion. Washing it every weekend over the summer, usually for the car but sometimes for Noah, and keeping the inside relatively clean other than the odd CD, Rachel was relieved her fathers had kept the car. Sliding in, she turned it over and drove in the cold Ohio morning to the high school. Everything seemed exactly the same. Some classrooms had been moved around but other than that, the school was in the exact same condition. Rachel strode up to the front desk and asked if Will Schuester had shown up yet. The secretary nodded and told her that he was in his Glee rehearsal. She nodded and began to make her way to the choir room except the secretary stopped her,

"You need a visitors pass and Glee rehearsal's in the auditorium." Rachel nodded as she went back and got the little sticker that said visitor and went down the opposite hall to the auditorium. Hearing a symphony of voices, Rachel peeked in and was thoroughly shocked. The stage was filled with kids. Four rows of six kids, the majority being girls, and the way they spun around in the set choreography was amazing. She spotted Mr. Schuester at the desk in the middle of the auditorium and she quietly made her way to him. Sitting behind him, she saw Diana being spun by a muscular jock who had a goofy grin on his face as she sang to him. She did have a beautiful alto voice. The song ended and the kids nailed it.

"Excellent guys! Okay, sopranos' have practice today at three and everyone else at five. See you there." Mr. Schuester hadn't changed. Sure his curly hair now had a bit of silver peeking out but, it was barely noticeable and Rachel found herself remembering why she had a school-girl crush on him. Diana spotted her and began waving ecstatically while pointing her out to other people in Glee. Mr. Schuester turned around and his jaw dropped at the sight of her.

"Rachel?" he furrowed his eyebrows slightly as she jumped up with a smile and went around the row of seats. He gave her a warm hug and sat her down in the plush chairs. "What're you doing here?" he sat down next to her and twisted slightly,

"My fiancé and I are off for the next two weeks so I came home early." She glanced up at the stage full of twittering high schoolers as they looked at her, "Wow, Glee has really taken off." She smiled at them and some of the guys got cocky looks on their faces. She noticed the kid that was dancing with Diana had grabbed up his bags and looked at Diana before storming off the stage. A few other guys had grabbed up their stuff and wandered off as well.

"Well, ya know, winning Regional's and having an old student go on to become a big Broadway star kinda helped us out." Rachel smiled before tilting her head to the stage,

"What's the kids name who was dancing with Diana?" Mr. Schuester glanced up and blinked before nodding,

"That would be Micah Puckerman. Just as musically inclined as his brother." Rachel's head snapped around to look at him,

"Micah?"

"Yeah, he's one of the younger kids in Glee, but man is that kid big. I'm surprised he isn't mistaken for a senior more often." Diana had grabbed up her stuff and was standing next to Rachel with a large smile on her face.

"Hi Rachel."

"Hello Diana, how're you today?" she giggled uncontrollably as some girls in what looked like Cheerio outfits surrounded her,

"Good, I'm about to go visit my Cheerio coach. She doesn't like it when we have Glee practice in the morning, says it disrupts our sleep patterns and makes us too tired for Cheerio practice in the afternoon."

"Sylvester?"

"No, Tanaka." Rachel whipped around to look at Mr. Schuester, who nodded slowly.

"Like, Football Coach Tanaka?" Rachel was seriously confused,

"No," Mr. Schuester said, standing, "Sue Tanaka." Rachel stared at him before shuddering visibly. The Cheerio's laughed as did Mr. Schuester.

"I'm glad you stopped by, Rachel. It was good seeing you." Mr. Schuester spun around, grabbing a flyer and handing it to her. **McKinley High's New Directions would like to invite you to see them perform for the first time this year. West McKinley High School auditorium Wednesday at 5 and 8 PM**. Rachel smiled at him and nodded,

"I would love to come to this and you guys have to perform two different times? Jeez." Mr. Schuester smiled back at her before letting out a breath,

"Rachel, would you like to perform at it? Just a solo." Rachel felt her heart skip a beat.

"Sure. If your kids don't mind," he nodded and looked at the now empty stage,

"I'm sure they won't but I'll ask anyways. It would be an honor, for you to perform with us." Rachel beamed at him before hugging him and saying a goodbye. Mr. Schuester packed up his bag quickly and hurried off to get to his class before the tardy bell rang. Rachel stood in the auditorium for a little bit before hearing someone else enter the dark room. It was Micah. She saw him see her and come to a stop. He had to remember her. Slowly, she walked over to him and smiled. He was about as tall as Finn with a mass of curly hair. He looked a lot like Noah except his skin tone and those dark eyes. His thick lips pressed into a line as she stood in front of him.

"Hey Micah," she said in a soft voice.

"Hi…Rachel." He said back. His voice was deep and rumbling. Rachel opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off, "I'm sorry, but I got to get my bag and get to class. I'll see you later." He went to the stage and grabbed a black duffle bag. He strode passed her easily and didn't look back. Standing there in half shock, Rachel took in a deep breath before releasing her tight clutch on the now crinkled flyer. She numbly walked out to her car and slid in. That's when she noticed a rumbling truck pull up to the school and Micah ran out to it. He threw the bag into the bed of the truck and leaned in the window. He stayed like that for about five minutes, sometimes moving his hands to emphasize what he was saying. Micah nodded eventually and ran back into the school. The truck sat there for a moment before it drove off slowly. It was Noah's truck and Rachel was extremely close to following it, to see if it was Noah, to talk to him if he stepped from the clattering cab. But she stayed in her parking spot, keys still in her hand, staring at the spot where the truck was a moment ago. She couldn't bring herself to open that wound again. She knew the things he said that day weren't true but he had said them to hurt her. He succeeded. Rachel eventually put the key in the ignition and pulled slowly from the lot, she headed to Mercedes dad's office; she needed to talk to someone who understood what she was going through.

**Okay, see, I said he'd make an appearance. Of course, you don't see him, or hear him…but he was there. ^_^ I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible for all of you who are about to kill me for being a tease! R & R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, here's the next chapter. A lot of dialogue in this chapter but a lot of explaining is due for the sake of the story, so here we go and I promise things will get going and Noah will enter into the story soon. Just gotta add up some more anticipation! ^_^ You guys are awesome with all the reviews though! They make me smile and all warm and fuzzy inside! On with the story!!**

Rachel found herself in front of a chic clean store instead of the brick dentist. She peeked through the plate glass windows and saw Kurt and Mercedes moving around. She knocked on the clean glass and smiled at them as they whipped around. Kurt scampered over and unlocked the door, letting her in.

"Rachel, dear, what're you doing here?" Kurt took her hand and wrapped it over his arm, leading her into the store. It was Kurt's baby and Mercedes was definitely doing her part to help him out.

"I just wanted to talk to you guys." Rachel glanced around. There were elaborate patterns on shirts and skirt, tight bright denim and loud shoes, but everything worked and screamed Mercedes and Kurt to a T. Rachel smiled at some of the article of clothes and turned back to Kurt and Mercedes who were looking over designs. She saw Tyrone and Jerome in a play pen staring at her. She smiled at them and both brothers got wide grins on their chubby faces.

"What'd you wanna talk about, crazy?" Mercedes smiled at her. She loved calling her that. Rachel twisted her fingers around and licked her lips nervously.

"About Noah," Kurt and Mercedes stopped what they were doing and focused on her, "And our fight." She hadn't talked to anyone about their fight. She told Tina a little bit but then shut everything up. Kurt went in the back and came back with a bag of Dove chocolate and three chairs. Rachel thanked him and sat in the plush seat. The bag was torn open in moments and Rachel looked from Mercedes to Kurt.

"What do you guys know?" Rachel asked, peering at them. The news of the fight was the hot topic around the school until graduation and there was rumor after rumor.

"Well," Kurt tilted his head up slightly; trying to remember what all was said, "I remember there being a rumor that you had a pregnancy scare, that you caught him cheating, that you were caught cheating, and I know there were a ton more but those were the only plausible ones." Mercedes nodded,

"That Jacob kid had a blog that said that the fight was pretty brutal on the insults." Rachel took in a deep breath and nodded,

"Yeah, we both said some hurtful things." Rachel took in a breath as she reached over and grabbed a chocolate. She fiddled with it as she stared at the floor and said, "It started because of a pregnancy scare." She glanced up at Kurt and Mercedes whose jaws were on the floor. "We, uh…" Rachel sighed as she started to think about that day. A tear slid its way down her cheek and she kept going, "We were in his truck and Noah started to freak out; saying he wasn't sure if he'd be able to take care of me. I brought up that he took care of Quinn and he told me that was different. It kind of escalated from there. Then…he said something rude and completely uncalled for and then pulled over and made me walk home." Rachel set the uneaten chocolate back in the bag. "He, uh…called all night but I didn't wanna talk to him. Eventually he came over and we got in another fight. But this time it was because I wasn't pregnant. When he did apologize, he asked if we wanted to try going out again and I told him I didn't think that was a good idea. I told him I had an audition for West Side Story and if I get the part then I'd be moving to New York." Kurt and Mercedes were speechless.

"So that's why you left after graduation." Kurt muttered softly. Rachel nodded glancing at the twins. They had fallen asleep and were curled up next to one another.

"Have either of you kept in touch with him?" Kurt glanced at Mercedes and shook his head. She also shook her head but rolled it to one side,

"Matt and I talk to his mom a lot still. He didn't go to college, we know that." Rachel nodded, lowering her eyesight back to the floor.

"What did you guys do? After graduation," Kurt crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees.

"Well, I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I have had some of my pieces looked at by high end designers and am setting up my first store." Kurt gestured around at all of the eccentric and chic clothes. Rachel smiled as she glanced around and nodded.

"What about you, Mercedes?" Mercedes shrugged.

"Well, I went to Ohio State and got a Bachelor's in orthodontics and a minor in design. Kinda weird I know, but I wanted a job to fall back on. I'm helping Kurt with some of his designs and also with his outfits. But I work at my dad's part-time. After I got back, when I was working for my dad, I ran into Matt and we started hanging out. We dated a little over summer break before we went to college, so it was a little awkward but then we started dating and a year later, he proposed. A year after that and the twins were born."

"I told her she needed to name one Kurt but she refused." Rachel smiled at the look that Mercedes shot Kurt at that comment and scratched her eyebrows.

"What about Tina and Artie?"

"Well, they went off to college together and Tina is teaching English at the high school and Artie is the new band director. He even has a few songs he's written that have made it big. Their dating still, I think Tina's afraid to take the next step but Artie will get her to loosen up." Mercedes smirked,

"In more way then one," Kurt quipped and he and the girls giggled. Rachel looked around,

"What about Brittany and Mike?"

"Oh, honey. Brittany is helping with Sue and the Cheerios, and Mike is helping out with Mr. Schuester and Tanaka. I don't even know how the hell they stayed together. I would have smacked that girl…" Mercedes rolled her eyes and Kurt and her high fived.

"But she is a sweet girl." Kurt mused.

"And before you ask; Mr. Schue married Ms. Pillsbury and they have a little boy named Curtis. Um, Finn and Quinn went to Ohio State as well and are working. They're in Toledo though. They're married but no kids yet. And like we said before, Santana found herself at sugar daddy."

"Rachel?" Kurt peered carefully at her, "Have you talked to Noah at all?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I saw his truck today, but…" She trailed off; she should have followed it.

"Why didn't you follow him?"

"Because Mercedes, I'm not a stalker." She laughed at her friend who tossed a chocolate at her.

"Ya know, Rach. You and I haven't seen eye to eye on, well, a lot of thing. Okay, most everything. But seriously, I don't know if your marriage with that Victor guy is a good idea."

"Oh really?" Rachel leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, "And why not?"

"Because, you need a man who is the opposite of your crazy self. This guy seems way too much like you, and that's just a recipe for disaster."

"We've been dating for six years!" Rachel shot back,

"Really? And you can tell me that you haven't had a big fight over those six years?"

"Well," Rachel took in a breath, "yeah, we've had some pretty bad fights." Mercedes gave her a look, "Okay! We've broken up quite a bit."

"How long was the longest break up?"

"A year and a half, it was kind of a touch and go in that time but we got over it."

"Uh huh, right, any other times?" Rachel looked at the ground and kicked it calmly with the toe of her flat.

"About three more times, each was about a month long."

"So technically you've only dated him for about four years and there have probably been more break ups or fights during the relationship than anything." Rachel blinked at Mercedes and shrugged,

"So what if that is what it's like. But we love each other and that's-,"

"Like how you and Noah loved each other?" Kurt cut her off. Rachel looked at him and let out a breath.

"I better head home. I haven't seen my dad's since last Christmas and want to spend some more time with them." Mercedes glanced at Kurt; who lifted his shoulders in a slight shrug, but both gave her a hug goodbye and she left hurriedly. Her house was fairly silent but she could hear talking up in her room. Rachel strode upstairs to her room and opened the door. Victor sat on her old computer chair, his phone tucked into his shoulder and he looked up at her with a smile. He hung up a moment later and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, your dad's asked me if I could go pick up a few things from Toledo and you are not allowed to come." He kissed her again and grabbed up his jacket. "I'll see you later today, okay?" She smiled and nodded as he eagerly jaunted out of room and out of the house. Rachel sighed as she wandered over to her closet and opened it carefully. Pushing her clothes aside, she grabbed the article of clothing furthest from anyone's hands. The soft red wool and worn pale eggshell leather instantly threw her into the past as she wrapped her hand tightly around the large letterman jacket. She had it in her possession after that hazy Halloween night. Rachel had kept it hidden away after their fight but would pull it out and sit just wrapped up in its warmth. She fingered the soft patches before huffing and throwing it on her bed. She needed to take it back to his mom, but she really didn't know how Diana would react to seeing her. Rachel thundered downstairs and went into the kitchen. She needed something warm and comforting and instant. The large mug of tea hit just right as she sleepily made her way up to her bedroom. Flopping on her bed, Rachel grabbed the letterman's jacket and pulled it close like a security blanket before slipping into a deep sleep.

**Okay, here's the next chapter, I know it's taking a while to get to what everyone wants, but it will be worth it. So R & R and I'll try to get the ball moving a little bit better. ^_^ Thanks for all the reviews and I swear the slow pace will pick up.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS AND ADDS! YOU MAKE ME FEEL SPECIAL!!! and not lick the windows special either like how my friends always tell me! I swear, Puck will show up; as well as Finn and Quinn. Some of you though are reading my mind and I may have to change something's up so it make take a while before the next chapter is up. I am also having some issues with the fight 'cause I don't want Puck to be a douche…but I'm thinking that's how it's going to have to go. Anyways, R & R!**

When Rachel woke up, she wasn't alone in the house. Shifting to sit up, she realized her hands were still tightly wrapped around Noah's letterman jacket. She hurriedly went to the closet and stashed it inside before combing her hair down and going downstairs. She heard soft talking and quickly made her steps lighter. Having been in theater and running around backstage without disturbing the actors on the stage, she learned quickly how to be light on her feet. She went around the corner to the kitchen and froze. Micah stood there facing her with his mother. She smiled politely at them and looked for her fathers. Mrs. Puckerman gave her a warm smile,

"Hello, Rachel! How has New York City been treating you?" Mrs. Puckerman looked exactly the same; her eyes crinkled at the edges of her smile as she went around the island and wrapped her slender arms around Rachel. Rachel returned the hug and rubbed her back slightly,

"It's treating me very well, Diana. It's good to see you again." Rachel looked up at Micah and sighed, "Hello again, Micah. How was Glee?" Micah blinked at her and it looked like he wasn't going to answer until his mother whipped around to look at him.

"Hey Rachel. Glee's going great." He said shortly and his mother stared at him for a few more seconds before turning back to Rachel and clasping her hand tightly.

"C'mon dear, I want to hear all about your plays." She dragged Rachel into the next room and sat her down, but before Rachel started to answer her questions, she asked one,

"Diana, why are you still civil towards me? I mean, Noah and I didn't exactly have the smoothest break up…" Diana waved her skinny hand and Rachel and let out a breath,

"Rachel, Noah told me about what was said. He told me about…" she trailed off and looked at her suggesting she knew about the scare, "And I believe it was wrong of my son to make a statement to rash. You had the right to be angry with him. I wished it didn't take away your love for one another but what happened, happened. You're still a lovely girl who is a delight to have around." Diana almost had Rachel in tears but instead she wrapped her arms around the woman and cleared her throat,

"Okay, what would you like to know?"

* * *

Diana questioned Rachel until Victor returned. Diana gave him a look up and down before smiling and giving him a hug. She twisted her head to Rachel and murmured,

"Is he Jewish?" With a smile, Rachel shook her head and Diana lifted an eyebrow at her before smiling politely at him and going to help her fathers. Apparently, Diana and Micah came over to her house every Thursday to have dinner with her dads'. Victor gave Rachel a freezing kiss on the cheek and ran upstairs to shower. Rachel found herself alone in the living room for a good five minutes before she stood to go into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Micah standing int he doorway.

"How're you, Micah?" He shrugged at her question, walking in and going to the fireplace. She glanced around and opened her mouth to talk again but he spoke this time,

"He misses you, just so you know." Rachel's mouth snapped shut and she stared at Micah. He shook his head slowly while staring at the floor, "I don't know why. You broke his heart. But he still misses you." Rachel felt her mind reboot and she took a step toward him,

"Micah, was that Noah in the truck today?" His eyes flashed up to hers and he twisted his face slightly,

"What were you following me?"

"No, I was sitting in my car and I saw it pull up." He let his face relax and he merely shrugged again. Rachel thought for a moment back to when she saw them, "Did you tell him I was in town?" He eyes flicked from hers to the door and he shrugged,

"Micah, if you shrug one more time, I'm telling your mother you're slouching." Micah instinctively straightened his back and fixed her with a stare,

"Yeah, I told him you were at the school earlier but didn't know if you had left or not yet. He kinda…I dunno, I hadn't seen him like that in a long time. He asked me a few questions and then drove off." Micah looked passed her to the door. Rachel turned to find Victor standing there, a questioning look on his face.

"Dinner's ready." He muttered to them. Micah instantly moved passed him but as Rachel did, he gently took her arm, "What's going on, Rachel?" Rachel looked from one of his beautiful blue eyes to the other,

"Nothing. Just talking about Noah."

"Are you going to go find him?" Rachel pulled her arm from his hand and squinted her eyes at him,

"Why does it matter?" she strode by him and went to her seat. She perched across the table from Diana and Micah and her Daddy, next to her dad and the empty seat intended for Victor. He joined them after a few moments and remained silent for the whole dinner except to answer questions. Rachel knew he was pouting; why did he have to be so childish! The meal ended and Diana and Micah left shortly afterwards. As Diana gave Rachel a goodbye hug, she whispered in her ear,

"Why are you with the shmuck?" Rachel held back a laugh as she let go of Diana and turned to Micah. He looked down at her and held out his hand. Until his mother smack him in the stomach. He gave her a brief look before retracting his hand and enveloping Rachel in a warm hug. His body was much larger than Noah's and fully wrapped her up. Rachel pulled away and smiled at him,

"Thank you, Micah." Micah gave nod and turned to follow his mother out of the house. Her daddy was standing next to her watching Diana and Micah get into her old car.

"Ya know, they usually stay until nine-thirty talking with us, but I think your _fiancé_ scared them off." He whispered in her ear and she threw him a look.

"He's pouting and it's starting to make me feel like his mother." Her daddy gave her a kiss on the head as he turned to go help clean the kitchen,

"What do you think I go through every day?" Rachel smiled at her daddy before heading upstairs to find Victor. He was sitting on her bed, fidgeting, when she walked in.

"Are you done being a child?" She asked sharply as she walked in. His eyes snapped to her and he shrugged.

"When are you going to remember that I'm your fiancé?" Rachel rolled her eyes as she stepped further into the room.

"Oh get off your high horse, Victor. I want to talk to Noah because I haven't seen him in years and want to know he's doing okay. We were still friends." Sort of. She fixed Victor with a glare as he stood and towered over her. In the back of her mind, she used to remember when Noah would do that when they were mad at each other. One time, it got pretty heated and she remembered he spun her around and held her back against his chest. That bad fight turned quickly into a great one. She shook her head at the memory that bounced sporadically across her brain. Her cheeks were growing red.

"If that's really it, then tell it to my face, and swear to me, nothing will happen." Rachel squared herself and looked into his sharp eyes,

"I just want to see Noah to see how he's been doing for the past six years and nothing will happen between us." She almost shook her head as a thought ripped by going "_Maybe…"_ but if he saw her do that, he'd know she wasn't thinking completely along his terms, even if it was just the rebellious part of her mind that Noah had created. But Victor should trust her! Abruptly, his face softened and his shoulder crumpled a little,

"Do you still love him?" Rachel searched his face. Victor had given a lot to be with her. He actually turned down a role to practice over these two weeks to come with her to Ohio. Rachel placed a hand on either side of his face,

"There will always be a place for Noah with me, but that love is gone and replaced with yours." She smiled at him as he wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her back to the bed with him.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel was up at a ridiculous hour again, this time baking. She had wanted to make just baked goods since she had seen Diana last night. She already had cinnamon rolls ready for the next morning and was working on her second batch of cookies. Her father's came down and smiled warmly at her before heading off to work. She was slightly worried since neither of them had talked to her about the marriage. She finished baking and stared at her handiwork. Four different types of cookies lay amassed on a large platter while many, many more were in plastic gallon bags. A Bundt cake sat on the counter as well as the batch of cinnamon rolls that she would roll out and bake tomorrow morning. Rachel made her way upstairs and into the bathroom for a long shower. She and Victor lounged around all day, watching the musicals she had and munching on cookies. Rachel was in the kitchen making lunch when the phone rang. It was Mercedes,

"Hey girl! Alright, dinner tonight is going to be at six so be over here by 4:30 for me to be able to do your hair and dress you-,"

"Me too!" she heard Kurt call over the phone; his voice tiny and faraway.

"Mercedes, Kurt, I can dress myself."

"Uh huh, tell that to your high school life. Be here by 4:30 and bring Vic along-,"

"Victor."

"Huh?"

"He prefers to be called Victor," Rachel sighed,

"Well, I don't care if he prefers to be called Daddy, I'm gonna call him whatever the…H-E-double hockey sticks I want to call him." Rachel snickered at her friend's censorship, "And bring something. We're going to have chicken parmesan, a fresh Caesar salad and Alfredo with angel hair pasta."

"How about an Irish Crème pie?" Rachel smiled looking at her ingredients laid out on the table for the next baking challenge she had lined up for herself,

"Mrs. Puckerman was over wasn't she?" Rachel had a habit of baking compulsively after visiting with Noah's mom. Her silence confirmed Mercedes and she laughed, "That's sounds amazing Rachel. So, see you at four-thirty." Rachel laughed a goodbye and sighed. Sometimes Mercedes could be a pain in her derrière.

* * *

Rachel and Victor showed up promptly at 4:30 and Rachel was instantly whisked away upstairs with Kurt and Mercedes while Victor was left to defend himself. Tina sprinted upstairs after them and she and Rachel talked the entire time Kurt and Mercedes dolled her up. Tina looked exactly the same except her blue streaks were gone and she was wearing less black. Well, okay, more refined black clothing. She had soft nude makeup on but her dress was a gorgeous one shoulder black and white design with a pencil bottom that fit snuggly at her knees. Rachel was finally released to look at herself and smiled at her reflection. Her hair was left down but Kurt had added some product that made it curly and it had a lot of volume. Her eye makeup was smoky grey and her lips a nude gloss but it had a tint of red. Kurt had brought a dress from his store and it actually fit her like a glove. It was soft cotton dyed a dark blue; the dress was a halter top with thin straps and the bottom was A-line. She put on her black pumps from that Halloween and Mercedes smiled at her. Apparently they had done the same make over to Tina as she sadly pointed at her mass of comfortable clothes in the corner. Mercedes and Kurt walked down the stairs arm-in-arm tittering about their fabulous handiwork while Rachel and Tina stared at the stairs, wondering how they were going to tackle going down the stairs in three-inch heels and dresses. They laughed softly as they slowly stepped down the stairs. They finally reached the bottom and gave each other a high five before quickly making their way into the kitchen.

"Wow, Berry, you clean up nice." She heard a deep gruff voice behind her and she froze. Her eyes snapped to Mercedes, who had a large grin on her face. Rachel let out a breath and turned.

**SEE!! THERE HE IS!! I hope this chapter made sense even though it was pretty jump and jump, but the story needs to get moving and you can't explain everything, so if you think I needed to change anything to help this puppy out; please tell me! And I will fix it!! And yes, I do realize how evil it is to tease with the idea of Puck these past 4 chapters and then when he shows up, leaving it at a cliffhanger, but I will have another chapter up, either later tonight or tomorrow, before the next episode! Thanks again! R & R! ^_^**

**P.S. Please don't kill me for having Rachel say she didn't love Puck anymore!! It's just for the story, I swear!!**


	7. Author's Note!

**Okay guys, before I upload this new chapter I need to know if you would like a flashback of the fight before the chapter starts or if you would like it in its own part, like a dream sequence or something. I'm going to upload the new chapter an hour or so before Glee (PACIFIC TIME sorry Eastern time peeps) so I needs to know before then!!! If I get enough like, "votes" for before, It'll be a flashback, if not it'll be a dream later on! THANKS YOU GUYS!!! ^_^**

**Sheniqua**


	8. Chapter 7

**Alright here is the chapter and since you guys voted for flashback, here is the Puckleberry fight and I hope it hasn't disappointed…it's hard to write Puck as an a** when I like him so much ^_^ On with the story and R & R! BTW broke the fight up into two parts. Probably do the next part later as another flashback or something! **

Noah had definitely grown up. He had grown out of his mohawk, now a tight almost military style buzzcut defined him. His face seemed more rugged, and body more chiseled. And those damn broad shoulders cut down to his slender waist that Rachel stared at a little too long. Rachel smacked herself mentally as she let out a breath to him. He was wearing a grey long sleeved shirt that clung to his nice pecs and worn blue jeans. Rachel all of a sudden felt overdressed. What she finally did notice, was the perky blonde attached to his arm which cause her to snap out of her thoughts. The girl had more plastic going on that a Barbie doll while wearing a skin tight green dress and four inch heels. Rachel became aware that everyone was staring at them including her fiancé and she shook her head,

"Hello Puck," was all she could manage out before she wandered over to Victor and wrapped her arm around his waist. Something flickered behind his gorgeous hazel eyes and Rachel almost melted. _Get ahold of yourself woman! You have a man, so stop acting like a sexually deprived whore! Kinda like the one on his arm, right now._ Rachel couldn't help but smirk at the girl and she let out a breath. The blonde released his arm and went to Mercedes commenting on her house. Mercedes watched the girl like a hawk and Rachel was pretty sure she was going to keep tabs on her the entire night. Rachel noticed Artie and quickly made her way over to him. He was wearing a nice black button down shirt and jeans, instead of his usual corduroy accompanied with the belt and suspenders. Giving him a quick hug, she whispered to him,

"When are you going to propose to Tina?" To which she got the response,

"If I even think about the 'P' word, she senses it and avoids the conversation completely or threatens me." Rachel giggled slightly,

"I'll help you out with that." Artie gave a laugh and muttered good luck before Rachel left him to help Mercedes with the dinner.

"Can you believe him, bringin' a gold diggin' hussy like that into _my_ house?" Mercedes hissed as Rachel went up to her.

"Mercedes," Rachel said in a low voice. Mercedes looked at her and smiled,

"Yes, Rachel?" She cooed back,

"You got a hold of Noah didn't you?" Mercedes feigned shock

"Would I do something like that? No, crazy, I wouldn't. Even if it meant you'd be happy again and get rid of that tool you call a fiancé." Rachel rolled her eyes and went to curse at her when she felt a hand place itself on her lower back,

"Hey, Rachel, can I talk to you outside?" It was Noah. Rachel's cheeks heated and she nodded. She wasn't in love with him anymore. She needed to remember that. _Then why are you acting like a school girl when he's around?_ She followed him outside to the patio where nice plush lawn furniture sat around a fire pit with a gorgeous stained wood awning over the top. Rachel sat on one of the chairs while pulling on her soft wool jacket. Noah was still only in his long sleeved shirt as he stood and looked at her.

"How've you been?" He said in a small voice. She glanced and looked back at him,

"I've been great. I haven't fallen on my face yet." She couldn't help but dig a little at him. Noah chuckled slightly and scratched the back of his head. Glancing at her sheepishly, he blinked and sighed,

"Have I told you how sorry I am for saying that?"

"Are you just saying that because I'm actually doing well, or because you're actually sorry?" Rachel glared lightly at him. Noah rolled his eyes. They sat in silence for a few moments before Rachel muttered,

"Where did you go?" He smiled and crossed his arms over his chest,

"I, uh, went into the Marine Corps on a four year contract. When I was done, I came back here and have been working at Axels' Auto Shop since." Rachel nodded at him,

"And the girl…?"

"That's Brandi." He said with a slight smirk

"Girlfriend?"

"More like…flavor of the week." He chuckled at her. Rachel rolled her eyes, "And your friend?"

"My fiancé, Victor." Rachel snapped at him. Noah raised an eyebrow, "I met him while working on West Side Story and we've been dating for…" Rachel trailed off remembering what Mercedes had said, "Four years." Noah nodded. He looked disappointed and slightly irate but he muttered,

"Impressive," He opened his mouth to say something else but Mercedes poked her head outside,

"Hey guys, Finn and Quinn are here." Rachel glanced at her and nodded. She stood and Noah held his hand out, gesturing for her to walk first. They moved together to the door but stopped at Mercedes was still standing in the doorway. She pointed up and they looked in unison to the door jamb. A thatch of mistletoe was right above them. Rachel glared at Mercedes who shrugged.

"You gotta do it," she said, a smile noticeable in her voice. Rachel heard Noah sigh beside her and Rachel turned to look at him. Without hesitation, Noah leaned down but stopped just before their lips met. She could feel his warm breath on her face and her eyes fluttered shut. She waited for his lips to press against hers but instead, she felt his cheek brush hers slightly and his thick lips press against her cheek. Rachel's eyes flickered open and she looked up at him. Noah gave a small half smile at her and her heart was pounding so hard against chest, she was surprised he couldn't hear it. She swallowed and twisted away. Rachel brushed by Mercedes and ignored the look that Victor was giving her as she strode into the house. Instead of saying hello to Finn and Quinn, she asked Tina where the bathroom was and made her way quickly to it. Locking the door, she sat on the lid and felt her shoulders sag. The memories of that day began to play through her mind like it had just happened.

* * *

_Rachel sat silent in the cab next to Noah. His hands were gripping the wheel undeniably tight as he continued down the street. She searched his face; his eyes wide and focused, his lips pulled into a tight line and his jaw was clenching and unclenching rhythmically. _

_"Noah?" she muttered; her hand splayed across her flat belly reflexively. His eyes flickered to it and he let out a breathe,_

_"I-I can't do it again." Rachel felt herself sit up a little higher and she glared lightly at him,_

_"When it was Quinn, you seemed to like the idea of having a baby,"_

_"That was Quinn-,"_

_"So you're telling me that you would take care of her if she was pregnant with your baby but not me?" _

_"No! I just-, God Rach, you make me wanna…" he growled instead of finishing the question. Rachel crossed her arms over her chest._

_"I make you what? Because obviously whatever I make you want to do, you'd be ten times happier doing it with Quinn!"He slammed on the brakes and pulled over. Throwing the car in park, he glared heavily at her,_

_"Right now, yeah, I wish you were Quinn!" Rachel jerked back, "I'd rather you be uptight and self-righteous other than obsessive compulsive and crazy!"_

_"Then why didn't you stay with Quinn after she lost Abigail?!"Puck glared at her and she almost cowered into the door,_

_"Don't ever say her name!"_

_"Why? Why are you and Quinn the only ones allowed to go visit her grave while I sit by the sidelines? I'm your girlfriend Noah, not Quinn! I-,"_

_"Maybe I want her to be!" Rachel felt her heart sink, "Maybe I don't want to have a girlfriend who only talks about Broadway, and how much better we could all be if we're just like her!" Rachel felt the tears cascade down her face as he went on, "I want a girlfriend who supports me, and doesn't just pretend to because secretly they want to win everything themselves! Does that sound like girlfriend material to you, Berry? A girlfriend who wants everything for themselves so they can make it big and leave __everything__ from their life behind! The only person who I know like that is sitting across from me!" Rachel sobbed slightly before she became steely,_

_"Fine then!" she screamed at him, grabbing her bag and sliding out onto the pavement, "Take you unmotivated ass and get the hell away from me; the obsessive compulsive crazy __pregnant__ girlfriend! I hope I never see you again, Noah Puckerman!" Noah rolled his eyes to her and he smirked disgustingly,_

"_I'd rather spend my last month as a senior banging hot cougars and fresh high school girls rather than you, Preggers. And by the way, I hope you make it to New York, fall flat on your face and have to come crawling back to Lima." Rachel slammed the door shut; ignoring the stares peeking through the windows and marching down the sidewalk. Noah peeled away from the sidewalk and left her a mile from her house. She made it home in record time and ignored her father's questions; opting to run upstairs and lock herself in her bathroom. _

* * *

Rachel blinked as she steadied her breathing; her cheeks wet and the spot where Noah had kissed her was burning. Why did she always find sanctuary in the bathroom? Rachel wiped her cheeks and waited until the redness went away. Sighing, she washed her hands and smoothed her hair. Taking one last look at her reflection in the mirror, Rachel turned and left the bathroom. It was going to be a long dinner.

**Alright, thanks for all the help you guys have given me! ^_^ and don't forget to R & R!!!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Okay's here's the next chapter. I missed last night's episode so I am so watching it this morning when I get a chance to! ^_^ Second part of the fight in this chapter too! R & R! Thanks again for all of the reviews! Also: I don't know if anyone else noticed this but the actor who plays Mike Chang also stars in Step Up 2: The Streets as the dancer named Cable. Needless to say, I was ecstatic and my friend laughed at me. **

Rachel found Finn and Quinn in the living room with Matt and Artie. Running up to Quinn, she gave her a big hug before pulling back and looking at her. Quinn was wearing jeans and an oversize cashmere sweater that was a soft crème color. Her long blonde hair was straightened and pulled away from her face. She looked much more comfortable and casual than Rachel or Tina. Rachel smiled up at Finn and hugged him as well. His hair was slightly longer, curling ever so slightly at the tips and he wore a nice button down shirt and relaxed jeans. Noah walked in behind them and shook Finn's hand warmly. They sat down across from the girls and began to speak in low voices about football or whatever. Quinn glanced over at him and looked at Rachel, coyly. Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows but they noticed that the boys had stopped talking and were looking at them. Quinn smiled at them before grabbing Rachel's hand and leading her away. She dragged her into the kitchen where all the girls and Kurt had seemed to migrate and Quinn glanced briefly at Brandi before turning her attention onto Rachel,

"Have you and Puck made up yet?"

"No, Quinn. We're somewhat civil towards one another but I have a fiancé." Rachel said with a proud smile.

"Who's a tool," Kurt mumbled in a sing song voice. Rachel shot him a glare but turned back to Quinn.

"You're Rachel?" she heard a falsetto voice quip from behind her. Rachel turned to look at Brandi who was pointing at her. Rachel raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Wow, not as hot as I thought you'd be." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at her and Brandi waved her away, "He was kind of zoning out and bitchy today and when I asked him about it, he said an ex was in town. I thought she'd be drop dead gorgeous by the way he was out of it, but you must have just been good in bed." Mercedes got a look on her face and Rachel's jaw dropped.

"Noah!" Mercedes called out, "You better get your girl outta my house before I hurt her!" Puck quickly walked in and saw that his "flavor" was being glared at by everyone in the room.

"Hey, Brandi, come with me. We need to talk." He reached out for her hand but she rolled her eyes and stalked passed him.

"Forget it. I'm outta here. Find your own ride to your dump of an apartment. It's a frickin' Cedarwood Apartment for Chrissake!" Brandi disappeared from the room, still ranting, and they heard the door open and slam shut.

"Well, that was one of the easier ones." Noah muttered; he looked at Rachel and winked, "In more ways than one." He laughed as he walked back into the living area. Rachel rolled her eyes and looked back at Quinn. The blonde in front of her had a curious smile. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at her but Quinn merely shrugged.

"You can honestly tell me Rachel, that you're going to marry someone else?" Rachel sighed and opened her mouth to protest but Quinn cut her off, "Look me in the eyes and tell me there isn't anything still in your heart for Noah." Rachel let out a breath and licked her lips. It was a whole minute of silence in the kitchen and Matt poked his head in,

"Is everything all right in here? It got quiet." Mercedes smiled warmly at her husband and nodded,

"Everything's fine!" He turned and left and Rachel was still silent. When she finally found her voice, there was a glass of wine sitting in front of her and Kurt was talking about the slightly dysfunctional Christmas he was going to be experiencing this year.

"Rachel," She looked up at Mercedes, who was grabbing plates out of a cabinet, "You're Jewish so why are you celebrating Christmas?"

"Well, since I usually only make it home for one or two days for the holidays, my father's decided to combine our festivities into one day and since Christmas is a pretty worldwide day of festivities, we chose that day." Mercedes set the plates on the countertop and turned back to the stove, "Hey Mercedes don't give your kids any of the pie okay? It's got Bailey's alcohol in it." Mercedes turned and made a face at Rachel,

"You tryin' to get everyone smashed there, Berry?" Rachel laughed lightly with the rest of the girls and took a sip of her wine. The table was set in minutes and Mercedes pulled out the main dish. It smelled warm and homey in their house as everyone began to merge around the table. Victor strode in and went to Rachel. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. Rachel smiled up at him before gulping down the rest of her wine. Noah walked up beside her and took the seat on her other side.

"Better slow down. Don't want another Halloween incident." Rachel rolled her eyes to him and he smirked, "I don't think Vic would want his _fiancée_ all but dry humping her ex." Rachel stamped her heel into his foot and he hissed in pain as she looked at Victor. He was busy focused on a musical that Kurt was trying to remember. She whipped her head back around to him.

"Noah, please be quiet about that night. I would more than grateful if Victor never hears about my poor choices in high school." Noah squinted his eyes at her briefly before muttering,

"Was I poor choice?" Rachel let out a breath,

"I told him about you, didn't I?" Noah held her gaze for a little longer before turning to Matt. The plates were filled as were the glasses of wine and the room filled with chatter. Noah was silent for most of the meal as was Victor and Rachel glanced at her friends as some of them looked at her curiously. The chicken was juicy and delicious as well as the homemade noodles and sauce.

"Matt, seriously, I am extremely jealous of Mercedes right now." Quinn muttered as she took another bite of her salad. Tina eagerly agreed,

"D-d-d-definitely." Mercedes smiled at them before leaning over and giving him a quick peck on the lips. As everyone finished their meals, Mercedes ushered them outside. Grabbing Rachel's hand, she hauled her into the kitchen. Mercedes cut the slices of the fluffy pie and Rachel hurriedly walked them outside and handed the slices out. She handed Victor his and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning to Noah. The heated look he was giving her almost made her drop the plate. She recovered easily and sauntered back into the house. Mercedes had cut the last two slices and was munching on hers when Rachel came back in.

"Mercedes, I don't know if I can do this." Rachel muttered as she grabbed the bottle of wine. Mercedes looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What're you talking about, Berry?"

"Noah," Rachel hissed. She looked back at the patio before taking a quick gulp of the red wine from the bottle. Mercedes jumped forward and grabbed the bottle away from her. Rachel plopped down on a chair and placed her head in her hands, "God, Mercedes, I wish everything were black and white. I mean, Victor is the man of my dreams but Noah...he's the man I dream of." Rachel abruptly straightened her back and took in a deep breath, "Nevermind, I am going to be Mrs. Victor DeMarkus in six months. Why would I ruin a perfect union of two similar souls?" She stood and took the bottle back from Mercedes. She turned to walk back out to the patio when Mercedes stopped her,

"Maybe because you know deep down you don't love him like how you love Noah?" Rachel stood there for a moment before walking back out and refilling glasses. She set the now empty bottle on the tiled ground and curled up next to Victor. It was dark out again and a light flurry began to drift down. Matt had lit up the fire pit and everyone curled around it. Rachel looked around at her friends. Tina lay on a couch, leaning over the arm and talking in a soft tone to Artie, giving him a kiss once in a while. Quinn and Finn were curled together talking to Matt. Mercedes came out and handed Rachel her slice of pie before sitting next to Matt, placing her hand on his leg and gently rubbing her thumb back and forth. Kurt and Noah were talking animatedly about football off in their own corner. Rachel found herself staring in their direction and noticed Noah's eyes flicker up to her once in a while.

"Rach," She heard Victor mutter in her ear. Jumping slightly she looked up carefully at him, "I've been meaning to tell you. I won't be able to stay the entire two weeks."

"What? Why?" Rachel said in a small, tired voice.

"I have an audition for Wicked next week and have to leave the 26th." Rachel twisted around and looked at him.

"You're leaving Monday? But, I thought-,"

"I know and I'm sorry. But, I've got to make some type of income to pay our rent." That was true.

"I just wished you would have told me." Rachel mumbled. Victor sighed but Rachel rubbed her hand over his chest lightly, "It's okay. I'm tired, can we head back?" Victor nodded and grabbed their glasses; heading quickly into the house.

"Hey guys, we're going to head home." The air filled with "No's" and "Stay a little longer,", but Rachel smiled and shook her head,

"I'm sorry but we do have to go. It was great seeing you all and we'll definitely have to get together when Mike and Brittany get back." Rachel made the rounds, giving goodbye hugs while Victor followed her saying goodbye as well. When Rachel got to Noah, they stood there uncomfortably for a moment before Noah leaned down and gave her a warm hug.

"I'll see you around, Berry." He muttered in her ear. Rachel tried to hide a shiver but she knew he felt it. Rachel pulled away and almost instantly felt Victor press his hand against her back,

"Nice to meet you, Noah." Victor held out his hand and Noah took it,

"Nice to meet you too, Vic."

"It's Victor."

"I don't care." Their hands remained clasped but Rachel could see they were tightening their grip slowly.

"Play nice now boys, I want to get home sometime today." Rachel muttered as she placed her hand on both of theirs. They released their grip and Rachel linked her fingers with Victor's.

"I'll talk to you later, Quinn." Quinn waved goodbye to them with a sad smile. Rachel led Victor out through the house but the second they went out through the front door, she released his hand.

"I wished you be the bigger man and not act like a child." She muttered angrily as she pulled out her keys and unlocked their rental car doors.

"Well I'm sorry that I want to tell my fiancée's ex boyfriend to stay the hell away from her since he seems to not comprehend the meaning of the word: _fiancé!_" He shot back as they slid into the car. Rachel turned over the engine and pulled away from the curb. Victor opened his mouth to say something but Rachel shot him a look that silenced him. It was dead quiet the rest of the ride to her house and as she walked inside, she realized she had left her other clothes at Mercedes. Rachel pulled off the heels and slowly made her way upstairs, rubbing the beck of her neck. It had been a long evening and she was tired. Stripping out of the dress, she carefully hung it up and pulled on an oversized t-shirt and boxer shorts. Her mind was reeling with a mass of things and the wine wasn't helping at all. Victor came up behind her and gently took ahold of her shoulders, squeezing them and rotation his thumbs. She shrugged away from him and went to her bed,

"I'm sorry, I'm really tired." She muttered as she crawled under the covers. It wasn't a total lie; she was dead tired but she really just didn't want him to touch her right now. Closing her eyes, Rachel's last thoughts were of Noah…

* * *

_She was crying, curled in her bathroom. Bile rose in her throat and she lunged for the toilet, retching into it. The thought of doing that every morning for nine months filled her mind and she began to cry again. Her father's entered her bathroom and she rattled off several words that were too garbled for her to even understand herself. Apparently, her father's understood and everything went black. She found herself lying back in a papery gown; a doctor stood there, talking to her. She focused and she finally understood what he was saying,_

"_I don't know if this is good news to you or bad news, but the tests came back negative for any hormones. You aren't pregnant. If you missed your period, it's more than likely due to stress; you are graduating soon, so that might be a major factor." Relief washed over her and she gave a small smile to her father's. She remembered hearing the phone ringing and just wishing it would stop. She knew who it was and wished he would just stop. There was a flurry of scenes like her life was being played in fast forward and everything slowed for a second. Her father handed her the phone, his garbled words sounding something like Mercedes. She merely took the phone and slammed it down onto the cradle. One of the phone calls she took and felt nothing but excitement course through her veins but the feeling passed almost as quickly as it came. Everything turned into a blur again and when it slowed, he stood in front of her. She said something and his face relaxed. She focused on his mouth and finally heard his words,_

"… _nothing to worry about?" he had a slight smile on his face. She focused on her words and could finally understand everything that was being said._

"_No, Noah, there is still a lot to worry about! What if I had been pregnant?!" He rolled his eyes,_

"_What does it matter, you aren't so-,"_

"_Noah, you aren't listening to me!" She screamed at him. He stopped and looked at her. She had tears rolling down her face again, "If I had been pregnant. Would you have taken care of me, like how you took care of Quinn?" he rolled his eyes again and let out a breath. She shook her head and grabbed picture frame, chucking it at his head. Puck easily ducked and the glass shattered,_

_"What the hell Rachel?" he muttered, looking at her. "Are you sure you aren't pregnant?" She felt her face tighten in an icy glare._

_"I think it'd be better if we broke up, for both of our sakes." She said coldly. His eyes snapped to her and opened his mouth to protest, "Please leave, Puck." His body crumpled slightly as she used his nickname. He left but as he shut the door to her bedroom, she fell onto the bed and cried harder than she ever had before. Her vision went black and she found herself in the choir room, he was standing in front of her again; his eyes pleading with her as he stared at her. She took in a breath and focused again on his lips,_

_"Hey, Rachel, I am so sorry about all of the things I said and I want to make it up to you. Can we just…try again? I swear, I just want to-," She dropped her eyesight to the floor, a sick feeling washing over her. She looked up at him and he stopped, a small choking sound in his throat,_

_"I-I can't, Puck. I talked to a Broadway director before you came over and have an audition with him next week. If I get the part, I'm moving to New York the second I graduate." She reached up and gently touched his arm, "I'm sorry, but, I can't do it." He watched her go. That was the last time she ever touched him._

* * *

Rachel opened her eyes and felt her whole body shaking. She sat up in the dark carefully to not wake up Victor. Her cheeks and neck were cold and wet with tears. She rubbed them and let out a breath. It was 11:25 and she felt wide awake. She slid out of the bed and pulled on her wool coat and a pair of jeans before pocketing her car keys and slipping from the house. She was insane for doing this.

**Okay, long chapter. But, I hope it was worth the read! R & R!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Okey-dokey; here's the next chapter. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and hopefully Puck explains himself well enough in this chapter. If not, I will definitely make it clearer in the future! R & R!**

Rachel found the Cedarwood Apartment complex easy enough and ended up calling Mercedes for Noah's apartment number.

"Crazy…it's midnight…if you would have woken up my-,"

"I know, I know. And you know what, I'd go over there myself and help you put them to sleep but right now, I need to know this."

"Fine…" Mercedes sounded dead tired. She heard a shuffle of sheets and a deep rumbling voice. There was muffled talking and then Mercedes sighed into the phone, "Matt says its 57 A."

"Thank you Mercedes. Goodnight." Mercedes grunted and hung up almost instantly. Rachel glanced up at the apartments and took a deep breath. Hurrying out in the cold, she found the 50 apartment block and began to run up the steps. Finally getting to his door, she rapped her knuckles on the door quickly. It was freezing outside. She waited a few moments before deciding that wasn't working and banging the side of her fist into the door continually. The door ripped open and Rachel almost smacked Noah. She shoved passed him into his warm house and looked around. A large couch sat in the living room as well as a large TV. The kitchen was fairly empty from what Rachel could see and there was a short hallway before what looked like his bedroom. She turned and looked back at Noah. He shut the door and sighed out,

"Oh, hello Rachel, come in why don't you?" Noah's voice was thick with sleep and sarcasm while looked at her, rubbing his eye. He was in a pair of black flannel sleep pants and nothing else. Rachel stared at him for a moment and how low the pants hung on his hips.

"Why did you say that you would help Quinn when she was pregnant but you wouldn't take care of me?" Noah rolled his eyes and

"I never said I wouldn't take care of you, I said I couldn't go through it again." Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over chest,

"And what exactly does that mean?" Noah rubbed his face and looked at her,

"Did you really come over here at midnight to yell at me?"

"I had a-," Rachel realized she was going to explain herself to him like how she would when they were still dating. She took off her jacket and sat on his couch, "I needed to know. It's been bugging me is all." She sat down and instinctively put her hand on her shoulder and gently began to rub the sore muscle. Noah watched her for a minute before scratching his scalp. He stood there looking at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why do you want me to explain myself now?" Rachel sat up straighter and licked her lips,

"Why? Maybe because you never did when we were still in high school," Noah rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He walked over to her and sat down.

"I didn't want the same thing to happen to Quinn happen to you." Rachel stared at Noah as he kept talking, "And I guess I was kind of…" He sighed as he stared at the dirty floor, "A dick." He chuckled slightly and Rachel let out a breath,

"That's an understatement." He licked his lips and looked up at her.

"I didn't want Quinn to be my girlfriend just so you know." She held his gaze as he fidgeted, twisting his fingers around, "I was just stressed about graduation and what we were going to do. I mean you were gearing up to go to New York and start doing Broadway shows or go to Julliard and I was hoping to get into Ohio State or go to community college." Rachel dropped her sight to the floor as she toed a dustbunny, "It's going to sound cheesy as hell but I didn't want to lose you. And before you say I could have gone with you, would you have seriously stayed with me if I was in New York with you, working constantly while you were doing your shows and meeting new people like Vic?" Rachel looked back up at him. She was squeezing her shoulder hard now. Puck placed his hands on her shoulders and twisted her so she faced away from him. He placed his hands softly on her shoulders and began to squeeze and twist his thumbs and fingers. Rachel relaxed in his hands, feeling her body practically melt.

"You bring up a good point, Noah." She mumbled out as her eyes slowly shut, "But I would have rather tried and lost than given up and disappeared." Noah stopped rubbing for a moment before starting up again, "I just…don't understand why you were so hurtful." Noah's hands slowly moved away from her shoulders and slid down her back in slow soft circles.

"I figured if I was a dick you could forget me easier. But then I realized I wanted to try and that's when you told me you had the audition." His hands reached her hips and slipped under her shirt, "Ya know, this is my shirt." He said in her ear. Rachel could hear the smile in his voice and she felt herself smile in response. His hands were working their way back up her back, lifting her shirt as they went. "What would Vic say if he caught you like this?" Her eyes snapped open. His hands were under shirt gently squeezing her sides, his fingers drumming up and down her ribs; she was leaning into his chest, her hands placed on his legs, going through the same movement his hands were. She shot away from him and grabbed her jacket.

"I-I should be going. I've got to get back before Victor wakes up and I interrupted you. I'm sure you have work tomorrow." She pulled on her jacket and hurriedly made her way to the door. "Goodnight, Noah." She huffed out as she reached for the doorknob. Noah grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. Rachel whipped around and looked at him. He was inches away from her and he lowered his lips softly to hers. Rachel felt the passion from before explode in her mind and she was milliseconds away from grabbing him and dragging him back to his bedroom. He pulled away from her and smiled,

"Goodnight." He murmured against her lips. She reached blindly behind her for the doorknob and squeaked out an "Uh huh". She gripped the doorknob and opened it to the cold air.

"I'll, uh, I'll talk to you later," she sighed out as she stepped away from him. He was still smiling at her,

"See ya, Rach." She squeaked out another "Uh huh" and turned slowly walking down the stairs even though it was freezing cold outside. Her knees were shaking as she hurried to her car and slid inside. Twisting the key, it made a loud sputtering whir and Rachel banged her head against the wheel and cursed. Looking at her lights, she saw they were still clicked on. Desperate, she tried again and again and eventually pulled out her cell phone. She stopped, if she called home, Victor would know she snuck out. If she called any of her friends, they would more than likely kill her. She glanced back up at Noah's apartment and cursed at herself again. Leaping out of her car, she sprinted back up to Noah's door. She banged on it again and he opened the door a lot faster this time. He squinted at her and his lips turned up slightly,

"Rachel? Couldn't stay away, huh?" Rachel rolled her eyes and brushed passed him again.

"I left my lights on and now my battery is dead."

"Your battery sucks,"

"I'm well aware of that. Can you either jumpstart my car or give me a ride home?" Puck shrugged,

"Why don't you get Vic to come pick you up?" Rachel glared at him, "Oh that's right! You don't want him to know you're here. Kinda like your cheating on him right."

"Did you forget your Midol, Noah? What is with the mood swing? Please just give me a ride home." Rachel hissed at him. Noah rolled his eyes and stormed down his hallway. When he came back out, he had dressed in a white wife beater and grease and oil stained jeans.

"Since I won't be getting much sleep tonight, I might as well dress in my work clothes." He shot at her. Rachel rolled her eyes and went to say something but her phone rang. 'Defying Gravity' began to play as she grabbed it hurriedly and ripped it open. It was her daddy. Noah was laughing slightly since one of his last memories of that song was Rachel and Kurt in a "diva-off" over it. She pointed threateningly at him and answered the phone,

"Hi daddy,"

"Sweetheart, where are you? I went into your room to drop off a spare key for the house and you were gone!"

"Daddy, I'm at Noah's right now but I'm on my way home. My battery died so he's giving me a ride home."

"Okay, honey. Be safe and get home soon." Rachel nodded and muttered goodbye before hanging up and looking back at Noah.

"Can we go?" she huffed. Noah shrugged and grabbed his keys. They went out to his truck and Rachel slid in. It was silent in the truck and Rachel fiddled with her phone. She hoped Victor didn't wake up but also wasn't worried about it.

"Thank you again, Noah." Rachel sighed. Noah grunted as he turned down her street. He pulled up to her house and she muttered, "I wish we could have some more time to talk without having too many prying ears around or it being late at night." Noah put the truck in park and leaned over, grabbing her wrist. Rachel watched as he dug a pen out one of the random bags on his floor and scribbled circles on his wrist until the ink showed. Rachel noticed his hands seemed to be a lot more callused and rough than they had been when he was just playing football and guitar. His thumb unconsciously rubbed back and forth across her wrist as he leaned over her palm and dragged the ballpoint against her soft skin. Rachel watching him intently until he stopped and sat back up.

"There. There's my number. Call me if you need anything." He muttered. Rachel looked at the number scribbled on her hand and back at Noah. She smiled and nodded,

"Thank you." He nodded back at her and watched as she slid out of his truck and ran up to the door. Her daddy opened the door for her and smiled and waved at Noah. Noah waved back and pulled away from the curb.  
"So, you were with Noah at this late hour?" Her daddy mused quietly.

"Yes, daddy, I needed to speak with him about something. Why are you up so early? Or is it late?" Rachel furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at her daddy. He smiled at her, rubbing her back as he walked her inside and to the staircase,

"I took the graveyard shift for a coworker so he could head home early to his kids." He looked at her and sighed, "Are you okay?" Rachel nodded and rubbed her dad's arm,

"Yes, daddy, I'm fine. I just needed to talk to Noah about that past. We're okay now, I hope. And also, Victor will be leaving after Christmas; he has an audition for an upcoming play." Her dad nodded, seeming almost relieved,

"Okay, let's talk more in the morning so we can both get some sleep and have some of those wonderful cinnamon rolls you made." Rachel smiled happily and jumped up the steps two at a time. Victor was still sleeping like a baby when she entered her dark room. She stripped out of her jeans and pulled on the boxer shorts again. She slipped into bed and Victor rolled over to face her; his arm wrapping around her waist and he pulled her closer to his body. Rachel almost pulled away in disgust but felt guilt instantly take over. She closed her eyes and ignored the feelings that crawled up and down her spine; instead she let out a deep breath and let the memories of the last hour slowly spin through her mind.

**Yay! She is going back to him! But what will Victor have to say about the phone number on the hand mysteriously and the fact that her car is missing? O.O only time will tell. I just realized I have a hardcore narrator monologue going on…way too late at night for me to finish up chapters and write authors note's for them…ANYWAYS! R & R! **


	11. Chapter 10

**Thanks for everyone who's reviewed and added. Here's the next chapter and I'm sorry, but I probably won't update until next week sometime, even though I know this week on Glee will be **_**hilarious**_**! Anyways, R & R! **

Rachel woke the next morning late. Jerking up, she slid out of the bed and combed her hair down while running down the stairs. Victor sat at the island, an empty plate in front on him along with a coffee cup. His knees were crossed and his hands were tightly gripping a newspaper that was held up in front of his face. Rachel glanced around. Her father's weren't home by the looks of things. Rachel briefly glanced at her palm and saw Noah's scribbled hand writing.

"Good morning, Victor," she mused as she went to the oven and served herself one of the cinnamon rolls she was pretty sure her daddy made. Victor was silent but she heard the rustling of paper. Turning, she pulled a fork out of the utensil drawer and peered at him. Sitting down across from him, she stretched her arm out and gently touched his, "Victor? Are you okay?"

"Where did you go last night and whose phone number is that on your hand?" Rachel instinctively squeezed her hand shut and licked her lips.

"Noah texted me with an emergency so I went over to his apartment and then my car died. He gave me his phone number so I could pick it up today." Rachel reached out and picked at her cinnamon roll. He looked at her like he knew she was lying but decided it was better than the truth.

"You need a ride to pick it up?" He asked while looking back at the paper. Rachel glanced up at him. Oh he was furious with her and he was probably going to confront Noah if he went with her.

"Oh, um, sure. I planned on going a little bit later if that's okay with you?" Victor grunted briefly before folding up the paper and setting it carefully on the ground,

"Why are you caring about what's okay with me all of a sudden?" Rachel looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows,

"Victor. He's a friend in need. He had someone close to him die unexpectedly and I'm sorry if I think that if he needs help, I won't deny him comfort."

"And what kind of comfort are you giving him?" Her jaw dropped at that and she stood up, her hands on her hips,

"I cannot believe you would even say that! Especially after Shauna!" Victor rolled his eyes at her and stood as well,

"Shauna and I didn't do anything!"

"Then Noah and I haven't done anything." She shot back coldly. "If you're going to act like this, then I'll find my own ride over to Noah's." She stormed past him but he grabbed her arm hurriedly,

"Rachel, why do you always defend him and yell at me?"

"Maybe it's because I expect you to trust me and act like an adult instead of a child." Rachel jerked her arm away and stormed upstairs. She locked herself in her room and grabbed her phone. Dialing in the same number into her phone as the one on her hand, she sat on her bed and curled her feet under her. The ringer buzzed three times before a gruff voice answered.

"Axels' Auto Shop,"

"Hello, is Noah Puckerman there?"

"Yeah, who's calling?"

"Rachel Berry." There was a pause filled with mechanical whirs and coughs. A few spurts of laughter broke the noise and then,

"Hey Rach, what's going on?"

"I'm about to kill my fiancé and I was hoping to pick up my car when you get off of work."

"You're about to kill Vic? What'd he do?" She could hear the laughter in his voice as she sighed and rolled back so she could lie onto her bed. Slowly, memories of doing this for all hours of the night slid back over her mind,

"He thinks we're doing unspeakable things that break weddings up." He gave a deep laugh that slid over her spine,

"We kinda did," she let out another breath and rubbed her cheek,

"Yeah…about that, Noah-,"

"Didn't happen, I got it. Well, I'm off work at 2 since its Christmas Eve,"

"We'll be there at two-thirty," Silence then,

"We?"

"Yeah, Victor wants to come along too. I'm pretty sure it's so we don't do any sinful things." She joined him in the laugh the second time.

"Alright, alright, I'll make sure I'm decent for the most part."

"Okay," they were quiet for the most part but she listened to his breathing. Abruptly he laughed and she muttered out a small,

"What?"

"I gotta get back to work." He said softly. She gave a soft little "Uh huh" before they said goodbyes and Rachel lay there in the quiet for a long time. Victor knocked on the door and Rachel sat up. She didn't want to talk to him at the moment so she scurried into the bathroom and started the shower. She stood in the hot stream until her skin was pruned and the water was cold. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel tightly around her chest. Rachel left the delicious heat of the bathroom and began to wander to her suitcase but stopped. Going to her dresser, she pulled out the pink striped bag and sighed. She licked her lips and stuffed the bag back into her drawer before grabbed another clean pair of white cotton panties and a matching bra. Grabbed a plain white t-shirt and soft worn jeans, she pulled them on before going out and back to the kitchen. Victor was sitting there with an almost flat rectangular box sitting in front of him. He glanced up at her hurriedly before smiling,

"Hey, just getting our gifts together." She smiled back and glanced at the box. Curiosity blossomed in her mind but she quickly trounced it.

"He's done with work in an hour, so do you want to go get something to eat before we get my car?" he nodded and grabbed the keys to the rental.

* * *

The ride was silent as Victor drove into Lima and pulled into a little diner. They sat in a severely uncomfortable silence as the waitress came up and raised an eyebrow at them,

"Make up meal?" she muttered to them. Rachel gave her a curious look and she waved her hand around in a circle, "Usually when couples make up and its lunchtime, they come here before scrambling off to have make up sex." She looked back and forth between them as they stared in silence at her before she rolled her eyes, "Whatever, what'll you have?"

"I'll have a Caesar salad with ranch dressing and some hot tea please." Rachel murmured.

"I'll have the cheeseburger and Pepsi." Victor also mumbled, the waitress scribbled down their order and grabbed their menus.

"So," Victor sighed, "Where does Noah live?"

"At the Cedarwood Apartments. It's down Marichi Avenue, which is on the other side of town." Rachel sighed fiddling with the salt and pepper shaker. Victor nodded and linked his fingers,

"Rach, what's going on with us? Everything was calm and normal but now…" he trailed off, staring at his palms. Rachel licked her lips and drummed her fingers lightly against the tabletop,

"I know I've acted different but when I left home, there were a lot of loose ends. And, some questions have been brought up," Victor opened his mouth to say something but the waitress came back and set the food and drinks down in front of them before bustling off. Victor watched her go and then fixed her with a look. Rachel dipped the prongs of her fork into her ranch dressing and then stabbed a few leafs of lettuce.

"What do you mean, "Some questions have been brought up"?" he snapped at her after the waitress was out of earshot. Rachel placed her hand in front of her mouth and shrugged,

"I've just been thinking about my job and where I want to raise a family and such," Victor abruptly scoffed as he took a bite of his burger, "What?"

"You want a family?" He murmured around the food,

"Yes, why?" He shrugged and twisted so he wasn't looking at her, "You don't want kids?" she muttered quietly.

"Well, you know, kids can be a hassle and I'm not sure if I want kids now." Rachel gave him a look and shoved her plate of salad aside,

"What do you mean by that? I mean, I don't want kids the moment we're married! I just want to know when I'm ready to have kids; they are living in an adequate place to be raised." Victor set his burger down and shoved it aside as well. He took a slow drink from his pop and looked at her,

"I don't really want kids at all."

"I thought you said you wanted kids when you got married?"

"Yeah, that was before I was alone with my sister's baby for a whole night. I mean, seriously? You want that kind of…_annoyance_ for a portion of your life?" Rachel looked up at the waitress, who went walking by,

"Check please," she mused.

"Come on Rachel, you're way too high maintenance to have a child!"

"Oh so you're telling me what I am and am not now?" The waitress made a face as she set down the check and scurried off. Victor opened his mouth to object but closed it instantly, "Now, take me to Noah's and let's get home." She stood and stormed from the small diner. Victor joined her after a while and unlocked the car. Rachel instantly turned on the radio and turned up the music so Victor couldn't talk over the top of it. When they pulled into the parking lot, Noah had his truck's battery hooked up to hers and Micah sat in her car, turning over the engine. Rachel hopped out of the BMW almost before it came to complete stop. She strode over to Noah and asked if they had her car ready. Noah turned to look at her and had a slight grin on his face until he looked passed her to Victor.

"Hey Vic, how's it hanging?" She heard the door slam and Victor stride up next to her. What she didn't expect was for Victor to take a swing at Noah. She heard his fist connect with Noah's cheek and she ducked down, scrambling to get away from them. Noah recovered easily from the blow and lunged forward, his shoulder connecting with Victor's torso and knocking them both to the ground. Victors back crunched into the asphalt with Noah's large body on top of him. Rachel heard the breath leave Victor's lungs and Noah scrambled up, sitting on her fiancés chest and grabbing his arms and pinning them down. Micah was next to Rachel in moments,

"Are you okay? Did you get hit?" he asked earnestly. Rachel shook her head and looked at the men on the ground. Victor was gasping and coughing as air returned to his lungs and Noah was restraining himself very well. Rachel remembered some of the fights he had gotten into; he had to be physically removed from the other guy so he wouldn't go to jail.

"Victor?! What are you doing?! I cannot believe you!" She screamed at him. Victor merely fought against Puck's hold and Micah pulled his brother off. Victor lay there for a moment before leaping up and storming toward the rental car and peeling away. Rachel watched him go with her hand placed carefully over her forehead. Noah stood next to her, his breathing labored. He reached up and touched his cheek where Victor punched him and hissed slightly. He hadn't been in a good fight for at least a year; he forgot how bad it stung. Rachel twisted and looked up at him, worry on her face.

"Are you okay, Noah? I didn't know he was going to do that, I swear. We got into a serious fight and, it's my fault, I'm so sorry."

"Berry, calm down," Noah chuckled as Rachel peered at the bruise that was forming. Micah coughed slightly and they looked at him.

"I'm gonna head home. I'll see you tomorrow night, right Puck?" Noah nodded and Micah waved a goodbye to Rachel before he turned and wandered back to his mother's car and slid in. Rachel watched as Noah brushed by her and disconnected the wires before shutting her hood.

"There ya go. You can go chase after your fiancé." He murmured. Rachel glanced at him and nodded but stopped on her way to the driver's side door.

"How did you get my car to start?" She looked at him with a small smile,

"I, uh, still have your spare key." He said quietly. Rachel nodded as she opened the door and slid into her car. Noah stared at her for a moment expecting her to drive away with his spare key and all. But instead she cut the engine and got back out, locking the door and shutting it.

"I should at least help you after what Victor did." She smiled at him. Noah nodded and went to his truck cutting the engine in it as well,

"So, what were you and Vic talking about that pissed him off?" Rachel felt her blood boil at the thought of what he had told her,

"I started talking about starting a family and he told me he didn't want kids. Before he had even proposed he had told me he wanted kids! And then he...he...he's just being a dick!" Rachel blurted out as they entered his apartment. Noah laughed at her as he shut the door and touched his cheek again. He jerked his hand back and hissed again. Rachel grabbed his chin and turned his head so she could look at it.

"You'll live Puck. Can you go get some Neosporin and I'll grab some ice." Noah rolled his eyes but nodded. Rachel watched him wander down his hall and into his room. She twisted into the kitchen and grabbed a towel. She opened the freezer and found three opened bottles of vodka and a large bag of ice. Raising an eyebrow, she leaned down and opened the fridge and glanced around. A few packages of lunch meat and a jar of mayo as well as an opened 24 case of Bud Lite and several 6 packs of random beer and other alcoholic beverages. Sighing, she shut the fridge and filled the towel with several cubes of ice. She wrapped them up and shut the freezer door. She could hear Noah still down in his room, so she strode down the hall. His room was a mess but he at least he had an actual bed frame and box spring this time. The floor was covered with clothes and some towels from his showers. Rachel turned the corner and peered at Noah. He was crouched down looking through the cabinet under his sink.

"Were you able to find it?" Noah looked up at her and smiled slightly,

"Um, no," She rolled her eyes and reached out, grabbing his arm. She hauled him to his messy bed and sat him down. She crawled up next to him and placed the towel against cheek.

"Ya know, I could have done this without your help just as easily." Rachel twisted her head to give him and look and slapped the towel in his lap,

"Fine then, do it yourself," She moved to jump up but he grabbed her wrist.

"I'm kidding; I appreciate you helping me out. Even if you hit harder than your fiancé," He laughed as she picked up the towel again. She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless,

"He's from a big city and his family was pretty high society."

"So, is that why you dated him?" Noah muttered. Rachel pulled away again and glared at him,

"I'm not shallow, Noah Puckerman. Just because he came from money doesn't mean that he's not a good person or I'm just marrying him for his money." She snapped. Standing, she handed him his towel and turned to leave.

"I know that Rachel."

"Then why did you insinuate that that was the reason I was marrying him!" She turned back around and glared down at him,

"Because I hate it when I see you with him." Rachel stopped and sighed, walking back to stand in front of him.

"Noah, I-," She stopped as he pulled her onto his hips and into a searing kiss.

**Heehee cliffhanger! ^_^ Sorry about it, but we have exams this week . not cool! But I have next week off so expect quite a bit of updates to make up for this evil, evil thing that I have done; BUAHAHAHA! *ahem* sorry again! **


	12. Chapter 11

**Okay's so I had a break in homework and felt bad about leaving it at a cliffhanger **_**SO**_** I typed this out all day and hopefully will have chances to keep writing, and thanks to everyone who was very understanding and hopefully, this will satisfy peoples thirst for Puckleberry. R & R! Thanks!**

Rachel sat stunned on Noah's lap. His hands held her hips and his thumbs rubbed back and forth over her waist. Noah slipped his hand under her shirt and slowly up her smooth back. Rachel felt her mind go numb as she leaned into the kiss and gripped the back of his head. His tongue flicked at her lips and Rachel eagerly allowed him entrance. Noah rolled over and pinned her beneath his body as he slipped his tongue into her mouth and slid it over hers. Rachel hadn't been touched by Victor romantically since they had gotten here and when he had proposed to her, they had decided on being fairly abstinent, which she wasn't going to lie; it was hell especially with Noah in her life again. Rachel eagerly wrapped her legs around Noah's waist and kissed him back forcefully. Noah jerked away abruptly with a slight hiss and she realized she rubbed her cheek against his bruised one. He recovered quickly and moved to her neck, sucking and nipping. Rachel let a sigh and ran her hand through his short hair. Victor…

"Noah, we have to stop," she whispered out. She didn't know why she whispered since they were the only two in his apartment but she did. Noah grunted against her skin but didn't stop. Rachel gently pushed against his shoulders and Noah rolled off of her and let out a hefty sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Rachel sat up and looked at him. Her lips were red, swollen and slightly bruised and her eyes were hooded. Noah looked up at her as she licked her lips and took in a breath,

"I should get going." She muttered. Noah sat up and placed his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her into another kiss. His lips closed around her bottom lip and he softly sucked on it. He pulled away and Rachel whimpered slightly, her eyes shut. She wanted to stay, but she knew if she did, they wouldn't stop and she couldn't take Victor's reaction to that. Noah watched her with half closed eyes as she opened her eyes and let out a breath. Rachel stood and shakily made her way out of his room. She slowly felt her heartbeat calm down as she opened the door. Rachel turned as she shut the door and saw Noah standing there, leaning against his door frame, watching her go. She clicked the door shut but didn't move; her hand still on the doorknob. _Let go._ She heard Victor's voice ring through her mind and she dropped her hand from the brass. She could still feel the cold of it on her palm as she got in her car and drove. She didn't go home, but instead she drove around Lima. Pulling to a stop in front of Mercedes two-story house, she sat in her car, looking curiously at her palm. She didn't know how long she sat there but eventually she saw Mercedes come out and make a bee line for her car.

"Excuse me, but do you know how creepy this is Rachel?" Mercedes said as she got into Rachel's car. Rachel looked at her and Mercedes peered curiously at her, "What's goin' on, girl?" she muttered and Rachel just sighed,

"I'm a horrible fiancé! I've been doing nothing but getting in fights with Victor and not letting him explain himself! But-but he attacked Noah over nothing! I mean-,"

"Berry!" Mercedes yelled and Rachel looked at her with wide eyes. Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows and she looked hard at Rachel, "Is that a hickey?"

* * *

Rachel sat on one of Mercedes bar stools while she dabbed makeup on her neck. Mercedes sighed out loud for the third time in a minute.

"What Mercedes!" Rachel yelled out and Mercedes threw the makeup on her counter top,

"What're you doin' Rachel? Draggin' this boy, Vic, along is not who you are!" Rachel sighed as she pressed her face into her hands, "Don't do that, you'll get oil on you face and clog your pores," Mercedes pulled her arm and Rachel sat back up.

"I don't want to but…I don't know!" she cried out. Mercedes stared at her for a moment before a cry jerked her attention to the living room,

"C'mon," she sighed. Her little boys were sitting in their playpen but one was sitting on the floor of it, two hands clasping his forehead and tears were pouring down his chubby cheeks. His brother was standing looking around while trying to figure out what happened with a building block in his hand,

"Tyrone!" Mercedes shook her finger at the boy who was standing, "What did you do to your brother?" Mercedes quickly picked up Jerome and pulled his hands softly away, kissing the spot carefully. There was a small red mark on his forehead and his crying slowed since his mother picked him up. Tyrone plopped down on his bottom and screwed up his face, preparing for the water works. Rachel jumped forward and picked him up; she bounced him on her hip while talking softly to him,

"It's okay Tyrone, you didn't mean to hit your brother did you?" she shushed him carefully and eventually he calm down and grasped a lock of her hair. Rachel smiled at him and continued to gently bounce him on her hip while rubbing his back. Glancing at Mercedes, Rachel noticed the mother grinning at her as she comforted the other child.

"What?" she said to Mercedes with a smile,

"You are so ready to be a mom." Rachel felt her smile fall a little bit before clearing her voice and rolling her eyes,

"Victor told me he doesn't want kids." Mercedes furrowed her eyebrows for a moment at her,

"You didn't talk about that before he proposed?"

"Well, we did, but then he babysat his sister's kids and then he kind of ignored the issue. Today at lunch, he told me that I was too high maintenance to have kids and they were an annoyance that we didn't need." Mercedes jaw dropped,

"Did he actually say that?" Rachel nodded, "I'm gonna cut that white boy! He had to the gall to tell me that he loved my kids!"

"He probably does, just as long as they're yours and not his." Mercedes rolled her eyes.

"Ya know, Noah babysits Mr. Schue's kid all the time." She smiled at Rachel, who stopped bouncing Tyrone,

"He and I talked about kids a lot when we were dating." She murmured barely audibly. Mercedes nodded at her and Rachel sighed as she set Tyrone back in the playpen. He smiled and squealed happily at her as he let go of her hair and clapped his hands together. Rachel smiled back at the baby before turning to Mercedes,

"Thanks for everything, but I should head home." Mercedes nodded but then jumped slightly,

"Wait! I have a surprise for you!" she passed off the teary Jerome before bustling off and up the stairs. Rachel laughed lightly at her and she set Jerome in with his brother. She watched them with a small smile as Tyrone went to his brother and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Rachel's small smile broke into a wide one. Mercedes came back into the room with a large brightly colored bag.

"This is from everyone. As a Merry Christmas, happy Chanukah gift." Rachel beamed at her and gave her a warm hug before taking the gift from her.

"Thank you so much and tell everyone thank you as well." Mercedes nodded at her and Rachel wandered from her house. She felt the urge to peek into the bag but refrained. She had such a bad habit of letting her curiosity take over. One of the times she was caught peeking; it was Noah who had caught her. Rachel smiled at the memory and pulled up to the curb outside her house. She slowly opened the door and found Victor sitting on the couch, an empty beer in front of him as well as the little white triangular box. She set the bag down next to the couch and sat next to him.

"Are you okay?" she muttered to him while staring at her palms. He grunted and picked up the box, passing it to her.

"Open it," he grumbled out, pointing at it. She took the box and gripped the sides tightly. Victor jumped up and grabbed his bottle, going back into the kitchen. Rachel slipped her fingers under the top of the box and pulled it off. A black velvet case stared back up at her and she pulled it out, undoing the clasp and unfolding the case. A silver chain held a silver medium sized Star of David pendant that was inset with light rose colored diamonds where the silver limbs of the pendant connected. Rachel sighed as she touched it and dragged her finger over the stones. Closing the case, she set it down and followed Victor's path into the kitchen. He was leaning against the island, taking long draughts of another beer he had opened. She wondered briefly if he went and bought them after his fight with Noah but shook that thought from her mind and went up to him.

"Thank you, Victor, I love it." She leaned against him and rose to her toes. Victor set the bottle down and leaned into her kiss. It was brief and not nearly as passionate as her kiss earlier with Noah. She pulled away but Victor wrapped his arm around her waist and held her against him.

"You know. I wouldn't mind kids." He said in a low, gruff voice, "And I think that abstinence decision we made wouldn't hurt to be broken," Rachel smiled up at him and nodded,

"I think you may be right,"

* * *

Rachel lay next to Victor after their quick romp and felt like a cheater. The entire time they made love, Rachel imagined it was Noah. She stood and dressed in her night shirt, white boy shorts and pulled her hair back. Rachel hurried down the stairs and wandered into the kitchen. Her father's were in there handed her a white bag filled with warm food.

"Chinese," her daddy Michael mused as he took a bite of his chow mien. Rachel smiled and thanked them before wandering back to the staircase. As she stepped on the first stair, there was a knock at the door,

"I'll get it!" she yelled at her dad's as she set the bag down and hurried back to the door. Opening it and leaning her body around the door, so the person couldn't see her lower half, she smiled and called out,

"Hello!" Her smile faltered slightly at the sight of Noah. He returned the smile and glanced down like he was shy. _Like Noah Puckerman was ever shy in his life!_ She stepped her body around the door and his smile fell as he stared at her. Rachel almost grabbed him and dragged him inside but Victor and her dad's were home and that would be a little awkward.

"Did you need to talk about something Noah, because I have to get back to Victor." She sighed and Noah's gaze fell. He licked his lips and sighed reaching into his coat pocket. He pulled out a small rectangle that was wrapped in shiny red paper.

"I didn't get a chance to add it to the rest of the presents and I didn't want you to think I didn't get you one." He muttered with his eyes on the small package. He held it out to her but kept his eyes down.

"Thank you, Noah." She took the package and stepped forward, kissing his cheek gently. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" he nodded and rolled his eyes over her. Rachel shivered at his gaze and gave him a small smile.

"Bye," he whispered out turning and walking back to his truck. Rachel waited until he got into the truck and started it up. He flashed a cocky half-grin and pulled away from curb. Rachel twisted back into the house and set the gift in with the rest of the presents. She froze and picked it back up. Rachel grabbed up the bags of food and hurried up the stairs. Victor was still asleep but was at least moving now. He sighed and rolled over, his back to her. Rachel set the bag on her side table and took Noah's gift into the bathroom with her. She filled the tub and slipped into it, the present in her hand. As she sat there staring at the shiny paper, she thought back to when Noah caught her…

* * *

_Rachel sat on Noah's bed, kicking her feet slowly back and forth while Noah dropped his brother off at his friend's house. She stood and slowly sauntered over to his closet. Opening it, she flicked through his shirts. When she ran out of shirts, that she already had seen anyways, she lowered to her knees and paired up his shoes. As she did, she found a tiny blue box lodged in one of his Adio skater shoes. She picked it up and carefully opened it. A pair of black pearl earrings sat in the box, gleaming seductively in the warm light. She felt herself grin widely and stroke a finger over one of the pearls._

_"Whatcha doin'?" she heard Noah from behind her. She jumped up and snapped the box shut. _

_"Nothing!" she squeaked as she hid the box behind her back and looking at him. He wasn't smiling and pierced her with a look. _

_"You need to stop snooping." He snapped, stepping toward her and reaching behind her, taking the box. She let him take the box easily and lowered her gaze to the ground. He fiddled with the box and threw it on his bed, "Well, what are you going to do to make it up to me, since you ruined your birthday surprise?" Rachel bit her lip and twisted her fingers together. _

_"I…I'm sorry, I just-," Noah stopped her with a quick kiss on the lips._

_"I didn't ask for an apology. I just want you to make it up to me," Rachel glanced around and licked her lips. She tipped her head to the side and looked at him out of the corner of eye seductively,_

_"What do you want me to do?" Noah wrapped his arm around her waist as he whispered into her ear and pulled her over to his bed._

* * *

Rachel felt her lips pull up in a grin and she picked at the corner of the present. She wondered what he would do if he caught her opening his gift early.

**So, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know it's kind of gross having Victor and Rachel do it before she and Puck do, BUT! She had been with Victor for 4-ish years so I figured she does still have a connection with him. ALSO! I figured I should give a little Biography on Micah since he's popping up and he is still kind of mysterious. Okay:**

**Micah Eli Puckerman was born December 15****th**** and 8 when Rachel and Noah first hooked up. He was 9 when they began dating and 11 when they broke up. He is now 17, a sophomore and one of the youngest kids in Glee yet he's one of the oldest kids in his class. **


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay's, found another break in exam's even though it's really late at night and I should be writing a paper. . Anyways, yes this chapter bumped the rating up to M and don't worry, Vic is not included in this. Also, I really don't like the way Puck is looking at Quinn in the show. I'm sorry, but she was the bitch who didn't give him a chance! I'm just sayin'! Anyways, R & R! Hopefully, it's up to par!**

The next morning was hectic. Getting gifts wrapped and food cooked was almost like pulling teeth; Rachel kept looking back to the bag filled with the gifts from her friends and the small one on top of them all. Rachel finally had her daddy take it and hide it until they opened gifts that night. Victor had been gone all morning so far and Rachel had no idea where he was but she was really curious as to where he was. The day washed by in a simple blur and Rachel found herself sitting at the table with her dad's and Victor; what was left of their large meal sitting in shambles in front of them. Rachel and Victor began to clean up and store away food as her dad's set up the living room. Victor kept wrapping his hands around her waist and kissing her neck while she was washing dishes and she kept shrugging him off irritated.

"Victor! I swear that if you don't get back to your side of the counter and start drying off these plates, I will end you." She growled at him eventually and he agreed to stop. They joined her father's out in the living room after they finished and Rachel beamed at them.

"Rachel, what has put you in such a fine mood?"

"Oh, just the fact that we're all together," She smiled warmly at all of them and gestured to the presents. "You go first daddy!" she tucked her legs under her as she sat on the oversized lazy-boy and pointed at Michael. He tore open his gifts eagerly and soon they all sat around admiring what they had been given. Rachel had a new skirt and sweater from her dads and smiled at them; she hadn't worn a skirt and sweater since she left home. Rachel looked at her dad's and Dan hopped up. He went to the coat closet and pulled out her bag of gifts and handed them off to her. Rachel tore into the first one from Kurt and couldn't contain the smile on her face; it was the box set of _Gone with the Wind_. She hugged it before setting it down and moving to the next one. Mercedes had given her a palate with several types of eye-shadows that ranged from loud to subtle. Tina had gotten her an old school boombox that only played cassettes and a box of batteries for it. Rachel stared at it curiously before moving on; Tina had a reason for it she hoped. Artie had gotten her a little cassette player and she looked at Victor, who shrugged. She found a letter at the bottom and it was from Santana. The letter was about three pages long of her loopy small handwriting and there were four plane tickets at the bottom. Rachel could only assume they were to go and to return tickets and glancing at them, she balked; Paris. Brittany and Mike had sent her a menagerie of movies, ranging from musicals to romantic comedy and a box of popcorn. She stared down at the last couple of gifts. Noah's sat there shining up at her while Finn and Quinn's gift was pressed off to the side. She grabbed up Finn and Quinn's and tore it open. It was the Wicked book. Rachel reached into the bag and as she wrapped her fingers around the paper she looked at Victor,

"Can you please get me some tea?" she smiled at him. Victor nodded and stalked back into the kitchen. She pulled out the gift and slowly began to peel away the wrapping paper. She stared at the small box and felt the blood leave her face. It was a mix tape and taped to the front was 'Rach's Songs'. Rachel looked down at the cassette player and boombox and rolled her eyes; they had known. She slid the cassette into the boombox and filled the ancient device with the batteries. When she hit play, Victor had come back out and set the warm mug in front of her. Her dad's were sitting on the couch; Michael was leaning against Dan and they were both smiling at Rachel as the first chords were being played. Every song she had sung in his car or in Glee was on the tape. Every single one she had on her iPod and on CD's. But right now, she just wanted to listen to them on the tape. Victor was visibly stiff next to her as she stared at the boombox and after a moment, he left; stalking upstairs and slamming the door to her bedroom. Her dad's looked after him worried but Rachel couldn't take her eyes off of the boombox. After an hour, her dad's went to bed. Rachel was listening to the tape a second time. She didn't know how many times she listened to it, but she fell asleep on the lazy-boy and woke up to the sound of the door being slammed shut. It had to be Victor. Sprinting to the door, she wrenched it open and watched as he pulled away from the curb and drove off. He didn't say goodbye. Rachel stormed back into the house and called his cell. It went straight to his voicemail. She hung up angrily without leaving a message and turned toward the doorway where her father stood.

"I'm going out," she announced as she stormed up stairs. When she entered her room, Rachel noticed a paper sitting on her desk. She sighed and wandered over; it was from Victor and it was hand written. Rachel let out a slow breath as she began to read,

_Rachel, _

_I love you, so much you don't even know. But I don't think I can take being second fiddle to an ex-boyfriend who broke your heart while in high school. I'm sorry but if you want this relationship to work, you need to let him go. I will be waiting for you in New York. I will be moving out of your apartment on the first of January. If you feel like you want me in your life, please, come back to me before then. I will be anticipating your arrival but from what I saw this week, I don't know. If you don't come back to me, I would appreciate getting the ring back, it was my mothers._

He didn't sign it. Rachel felt tears sting her eyes but she ripped the paper up and threw it into her pink trashcan. She had to go do something's.

* * *

Rachel quickly made her way up to the Abram door and knocked tentatively. Artie answered with a curious look on his face.

"Rachel? What're you doing here?" Rachel thrust out her hand without answering. She was holding onto a fat white envelope. Artie took it carefully, his eyes not leaving her. Popping it open, he took in a sharp breath and looked back at her,

"Buy a something with either obsidian or sapphire in it. You know how she likes black and blue." Rachel said with a smile.

"Rachel, I-I don't know what to say."

"No thanks are required. Think of it as a friend helping a friend." She leaned down and gave him a hug before flouncing off of the porch and going to her car. She had turned the radio off and had the boombox playing quietly. She had listened to the same song roughly five times now. It was If I Were a Boy. The song that actually connected Rachel to Puck in the first place. She slowed to a stop and let out a breath. She was in his apartment complex, staring up at his door. Slowly getting out, she felt like she was standing next to her car but within heartbeats, she was standing at his door. Rachel raised her hand and rasped it gently on the metal. Rachel twisted her head and moved to go down the stairs. This was silly; she should go home and be with her dad's and start working on her solo she was going to do at the invitational. But the door opened before she could start working her way down and she heard Noah clear his throat,

"Rachel? What're you doing?" She turned back and let out a breath.

"I, uh, was wondering if I could talk…to you." He furrowed his eyebrows but stood aside. She hesitated for a moment before she walked in. Taking a seat on his couch, she waited until he sat next to her. He was in a pair of destroyed jeans and a white wife beater. She furrowed her eyebrows at his clothes and he shrugged,

"I'm going to go work on my truck a little bit." She nodded and crossed her knees and placed her hands on them.

"Victor…left this morning. And he left me a note, pretty much saying that he was going to leave me, unless I left everything from here behind." She said in a small voice,

"But this is where you grew up-,"

"He meant you, Noah." Rachel cut him off. He stared at her silent, "He said I needed to cut all ties with you; which would mean that I would have to fly my father's over for every holiday, I would only be able to stay in contact with everyone by email or phone, and I could never see you." Noah's gaze dropped to the floor, "I don't want that." She muttered and he looked her in the eyes, "I love it here and I enjoy your company." Something flashed behind his eyes as she said that but he hid it quickly,

"Did you like your gift?" he said with a small smile. Rachel beamed at him and she played with the hem of her skirt. She was wearing her sleep shirt and a black pleated skirt even though it was one of the colder days.

"I love it. That's one of the reasons that made Victor leave so suddenly." She looked back up at him and licked her lips, "I wish I had a gift to give you." Noah wasn't looking at her eyes anymore but instead had his gaze focused on her lips. He leaned forward and she met him the rest of the way. Noah's hand pressed against her thigh as she reached behind his head and gripped his neck. Noah tugged on her legs, just behind her knee and he pulled her onto his lap. Rachel found her body disobeying everything her mind was screaming at her as she gently pushed her hips back and forth. Noah's tongue slid against her lower lip and she sighed as she parted her lips, allowing him to invade her. Rachel moaned softly as his teeth nipped at her swollen lips and she felt his fingertips roughly press into her scalp as his hand tangled into her hair. She felt one of his hands slip up her thigh and as it brushed the edges of her panties she jerked away from him, almost falling off of his hips.

"I-I'm sorry, Noah, I-I can't do this. I can't cheat on him." She stood up and wrapped her arms around her body as she turned away from him. She heard Noah sigh and stand.

"Well, then, I guess I'll see you later." He growled as he left, going down the hallway and leaving her in his living room. Rachel walked over to his door and stepped out into the cold. She had her hand on the doorknob and she heard Victor's voice in her mind again; _Let Go._ Rachel stared at her hand and shook her head. She had done everything for him. She had forgiven him when she caught him with another woman, she had forgiven him when he told the director she wasn't fit for a part in _Spring Awakening, _but she couldn't forgive him for this. Making her feel guilty for having feelings for the man she thought she was going to marry when she was in high school, who she lost her virginity to. Rachel squeezed her hand around the doorknob; _Scew him and his power trip. Victor DeMarkus was no longer going to boss her around!_ Rachel wrenched the door back open and kicked off her flats. Noah came into her view at the end of the hallway in his bedroom. He had pulled on a pair of dirty, oil smeared overalls that were still stuck on his hips.

"Rachel?" he called down the hall. She gripped the deadbolt lock and twisted it. Rachel looked down at the floor before turning to face him and sprinting down the hall as fast as she could at him. Leaping up, she crashed into him; wrapping her legs around his hips and pressing her lips against his. Noah stumbled back and would have stayed upright, if his bed wasn't directly behind him. They tumbled onto the plush surface as Rachel dragged her hands up and down his barely covered torso. She pulled away and forcefully pulled the wife beater off of him,

"Rachel?" he murmured as she began to leave a trail of hot wet kisses down his chest. "Rachel, what're you…" Noah trailed off as she slid off of his hips and tugged the overalls down. His boots were in the way and she impatiently pulled them off, allowing her to pull off his overalls,

"You wear too many clothes, Noah Puckerman." She muttered to him as she crawled back up onto his hips and recaptured his lips. Her slender fingers easily undid his belt buckle, button fly and zipper. She pulled away and breathed gently on his jaw and neck, "I didn't realize it'd be this difficult to get you naked." He gave a breathy laugh as she finally got them undone and slid a hand underneath the waistband. His breath hitched as their lips barely touched. Noah kept leaning forward, trying to capture hers but she kept pulling them away or turning her head just barely while her hand pressed and teased. Noah growled and rolled over, causing her hand to slip away from him. He gripped the edges of her shirt and pushed it up and off of her. She was wearing that damn red lacy bra. Noah tugged on her skirt and saw the matching panties and moaned. Rachel smirked at him as she ran her hand across his scalp. Noah pressed his lips into her stomach as he pushed her up further on his bed. Rachel wiggled out from under him and sat up on her knees, undoing her bra and pressing her body against his as she pressed her lips into his shoulder. She bit the place where his shoulder met his neck and Noah pressed his hips into her harder. She could feel him straining against his jeans still as she slipped her thumbs under the waist band and tugged them down further. Noah kicked out of them and pressed her back into his comforter. He felt hot air push out of his lungs as he felt her breasts press against his bare chest.

Rachel wiggled out of her panties and pushed him over, straddling his hips. Noah held onto her hips as she pushed her hips back and forth over him, his boxers feeling amazing against her skin. Rachel gripped his wrists and removed them from her hips as she slithered down his body and gripped the edge of his boxers. She smiled up at him as Noah stared down at her with half closed eyes. Pulling them off of his hips, she tugged them off and threw them with the rest of the clothes as she wrapped her fingers delicately around him. Noah let out another sigh as she dragged her tongue slowly up his length and lips over his tip. Rachel stared up at him a smile teasing the edges of her lips as she hummed slightly while pulling him deeper into her mouth. Noah's head fell back and his palm pressed against the back of her head, slipping his fingers through her hair.

Rachel pulled away and slowly dragged her body back up his; letting the tips of her hair tease his skin. Noah sat up about to push her over but she pressed her hand into his chest, holding him down even though she barely put any pressure on him. Victor rarely ever let her do anything and she was never allowed on top. _Egotistical Bastard_, she thought bitterly before pushing him from her mind and reaching between them; leading him to her entrance. He slipped in easily and Rachel sat on his hips for a moment. She loved the feel of him; Victor was so ordinary but Noah... Noah hit all the right spots, pressed all the right places. Rachel arched her back as she placed her hands into his chest and began to lift her hips. Noah was holding onto her hips as he countered her movements. Rachel leaned down so her body was against his as she continued her movements. Reaching up, she grasped his headboard and began to rock harder. Noah couldn't take anymore; he gripped her tightly and rolled over, lifting her legs up slightly and beginning to rock harder and faster into her. Rachel gripped his back and dragged her nails down his back, causing him to shudder. Noah felt his lower belly tighten as he rocked faster and faster. The euphoria hit Rachel so fast she forgot to breath; her back arched and she cried out, gripping his back and squeezing her thighs tightly against his hips. Noah bucked a couple more times before he joined her, pressing his lips hard onto her bruised ones. Noah felt his knees give out and his hips pressed almost painfully into hers but she kissed him deeply. Noah lowered his body to hers as their bodies remained connected. Noah pulled away and gave her soft kisses on her jaw. Noah pulled from her and slid to her side. Rachel smiled at him warmly, feeling his hot kisses against her sensitive skin. Rachel rolled over and leaned back into his chest. Noah pressed soft kisses on her neck as he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her tightly against his body. Rachel rolled her fingertips up and down his arm.

"Rach, what just happened?" Rachel let out a laugh and turned her head slightly to look at him,

"Noah, have you been out of practice that long that you didn't know what it was like to have sex?" He laughed sarcastically at her and buried his face into her hair.

"I mean, what did you and I just do while your fiancé is away?" Rachel let out a breath and felt her skin grow cold. Noah must have sensed that she was tense because he pressed his lips onto her neck and let out another breath that warmed her skin, "Nevermind." Rachel opened her mouth but felt her voice catch in her throat.

"Y-You know, I think Artie's going to propose to Tina." Rachel finally was able to say, dancing around the issue that was screaming around her mind at the moment. Victor probably wasn't even home yet.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

"Call it, women's intuition." She smiled at him. Noah laughed into her neck. She loved the feel of his breath against her skin and the feel of his rumbling chest against her back. They heard the sound of someone trying to open the door and then a loud knock.

"Puck! What the hell! We were supposed to work on the truck an hour ago! Puck? Are you home?" Rachel shot up and jumped up from the bed. Noah laughed at her as she scrambled to find all of her clothes,

"Yeah! Hold on!" Puck laughed as he pulled on his jeans and did them up. Rachel had pulled on her bra, shirt and skirt while still searching for her panties,

"Noah! Where is my underwear?" Rachel hissed quietly at him as he left the bedroom. He snickered at her again and went to the door. He had his hand on the lock and Rachel pointed at him,

"Noah, don't you-," He unlocked the door and Rachel leapt into his bathroom. Leaning against the door, she listened to him and the other person talking.

"Dude! What're you doing?" silence then, "Aw, shit, who's the girl? Does Rachel know? Dude, I can't watch you ruin that relationship-!" the voice had gotten louder and louder before silencing abruptly, then; "Are those red panties?" Rachel cursed quietly and then heard, "Is she in the bathroom?" Rachel grabbed the doorknob and hoped the person wasn't stronger than her. They were. Micah stood with his jaw hanging open along with Finn as they stared at her.

"Oh…hey Rachel." Finn breathed out in his cute, dopey way.

"Hi Finn. Micah." She muttered embarrassed out of her mind. She wandered passed them and grabbed her panties before leaving them in the bedroom and going back into the living room. She twisted her way back into them and slipped on her flats. "I'll see you later." She called out as she put her hand on the doorknob. Noah had followed her out into the living room and before she could leave, he pulled her body to his and pressed his lips carefully against hers. The kiss was soft and inviting for more but Rachel had to leave; Finn and Micah were there still. He pulled away and she felt that whimper leave her throat involuntarily. He smirked at her and gave her another quick peck.

"See ya, Rach." Rachel felt like she was floating as she smiled back and nodded,

"Bye." She breathed out. She didn't remember getting into her car or getting to her house, but she did remember that only moments after she had gotten home and had worked up the energy to go halfway up her stairs, Noah opened the door and looked up at her, a smirk teasing at his lips. Rachel smiled back at him as he slowly began to walk up the stairs and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up against his body and carrying her the rest of the way to her room. Placing her on the bed, he lay next to her and buried his face into her neck.

"What're you doing Noah?" she laughed lightly as his body enveloped her and slowly warmed her. He grunted into her body and sighed,

"I know how you like to fall asleep in my arms afterwards. That and Finn and my brother were too freaked out to work on the truck." Rachel laughed as Noah held her close to his body.

"You are so cocky, Puck." She laughed at him as her eyes closed and she felt her mind slowly began to numb and she pressed deeper into his body,

"I like to think its part of my charm that got you to love me." Rachel laughed again and thought,

"I do love you."

**Okay's hope it was good and not too random which is kinda what it felt like when I was writing it, but what're ya gonna do! I have wanted them to get together since he kissed her the first time, but needed to find a way to do it. Will not be the only time they get together and Vic may or may not reappear. BTW, Rachel did say I do love you out loud she just thought she thought it...if that makes sense. O.o? Anywho R & R! Also, hoped her gift was totally worth the anticipation! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Alright, sorry about the late update and I'm kind of leery about loading this, but I've had a really busy week (no excuse I know) and I hope this is a good, kinda, transition chapter that has a lot of information and I don't know if it all makes sense. Anyways, R & R, and tell me what you think of this chapter. Also, I might upload my Supernatural story and another Puckleberry story that I've had roaming around my mind for a while. **

Rachel woke to the feeling of someone kissing her neck softly. She smiled and sighed before rolling over and looking at Noah. He was laying half on her while his lower half to the side of her. Rachel dragged her fingertips over his arms as Noah placed soft, hot kisses down her neck and between her breasts. Rachel felt her body rise to meet his lips as he continued down. Noah kept eye contact with her as he moved so his body was between her knees. Rachel bit her bottom lip and Noah went back up to her, kissing her deeply. His hands easily pushed up her skirt and hooked on the edges of her panties. Rachel lifted her hips and allowed him to slide them off. Noah pulled away from her and slipped back down between her legs. Rachel watched him eagerly as Noah dropped his head to her junction and blew cool air over her. Rachel bucked and whimpered louder than she had meant to. Noah laughed, letting the hot air from his breath wash over her sensitive skin. He kissed her inner thigh and Rachel moaned as quietly as possible. Noah was making his way to her, painfully slow; frustratingly slow. Rachel was about to hiss at him to stop teasing her when she heard her door click.

"Rachel, honey are you-?" Her daddy peeked inside before slamming the door shut and crying out, "Rachel! When you have finished, I would like to see you downstairs." She heard her daddy storm downstairs while she had her hands placed over her mouth, horrified. Noah had jumped off the bed quickly when the door had opened and was now trying very hard to not burst out laughing. Rachel stood and swatted his arm,

"Noah, this isn't funny! My dad just caught my ex-boyfriend with his head between my legs." Rachel pressed her face into her hand and grabbed her underwear. Noah watched her as she dressed and went to her door. She turned back to him and held a hand out, "Stay here, I'll be right back." Noah nodded as he sat on her bed. She glanced at the grandfather clock that sat in their foyer and grimaced. She had only been asleep for about twenty minutes. Rachel let out a deep breath and found her father's in the kitchen. Her daddy was working his way through one of the beers that Victor had bought.

"Rachel, have you and Victor completely called things off?" Her daddy breathed out after he had finished the beer. Rachel glanced down at her hand and looked at the ring, "That's what I thought. Now, Sweet Pea, I know how much you were in love with Noah, but you need to stop things with Victor first. This isn't like you to drag a boy along. Can you please ask Noah to come down here; we want to talk to him." Rachel nodded and left the room quickly. Tears were streaking down her face as the thought of the pain she had caused Victor. He had proclaimed his love for her and she reciprocated those feeling but the moment that Noah came back into her life, she dropped Victor. She entered her room and looked up at Noah,

"They want to speak with you." She said around the tears and forcing her voice to remain strong. Noah nodded and went to walk passed her. He stopped and kissed her on the forehead before leaving her alone in her room. Rachel went to her desk and pulled out a sheet of parchment paper. She slipped the ring off her finger and set it next to the letter. Scribbling down, _Dear Victor,_ she moved the pen and pressed it against the paper. She didn't know how long she sat there thinking of all the things she could have put down, but the pen didn't move. More tears fell against the paper and caused it to ripple up. Rachel let out a shuddering breath and finally scribbled down a single statement before folding the paper up and sliding it into the envelope. She dropped the ring in after it and sealed the envelope. Scribbling down her and Victors address, Rachel gripped it tightly and snuck downstairs. She could hear her dad's talking with Noah and their voices seemed less angry than Rachel would have predicted. She slipped outside quietly and placed the envelope in her mailbox, lifting the flag up. She turned to walk back inside and found Noah leaving. He smiled at her and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked up to her. Rachel smiled at him and took in a deep breath, his scent invading every portion of her mind.

"I'm going to head home," he muttered out and Rachel nodded, leaning into his body and wrapping her arms around his torso. "You're doing a solo at the Invitational right?" Rachel nodded as she buried her head into his body. Noah laughed and kissed the top of her head, "All right, I'll see you there." Rachel nodded again and lifted her head up. He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, sucking her bottom lip between his and gently biting it. He pulled away and Rachel whimpered again. She hated it when she did that but she couldn't help it. Noah gave her another peck on the lips before striding to his truck. Rachel waved a goodbye and made her way back inside away from the cold and especially before she followed Noah. Letting out a deep breath, she scrambled upstairs before her father's cornered her. Rachel plopped on her bed and felt her emotions get the best of her as she curled up and cried. She felt guilt and hope fill her heart as she thought of Puck. Wiping her eyes hurriedly and stood, going to her iHome. She needed a hefty distraction from Noah and Victor. Flipping through her iPod, she needed a song to practice for the invitational and something that would let out the emotion she was feeling. She finally found it and immediately began to play it. Letting out a breath, she sang. As she sang, she began to cry. She cried so hard she had to stop singing and her daddy came into her room. He went to her quickly and wrapped her up in his arms.

"I'm glad you haven't grown up enough to not let me comfort you." He whispered into her ear as she wept into his shoulder.

"I'm such a horrid person!" she wailed, "I don't deserve either of them! I-I-I left Noah when I should have stayed and made things work and I shouldn't have gone over to his house when I was _engaged _to Victor! I can't believe I actually cheated on him!" Rachel stood and looked at her daddy, "Am I a slut?" he furrowed his eyebrows at her and jumped up,

"No honey, no, no, no! You just…" He stared at her and Rachel felt her heart rate spike, "Have been through a lot. You need to take a couple days to yourself. How about your dad and I go away for a day or two and let you have some time alone?" Rachel shook her head as she wiped at the tears again,

"N-no, I want you to see me sing at the Invitational." She hiccupped out. Her daddy smiled at her and nodded,

"Okay, we'll go to the invitational and then let you have some peace. How does that sound?" Rachel stared at the ground and nodded,

"I'd like that, Daddy. How about I pay for it, though? I don't want to take over your house for my own selfish reasons." Her daddy smiled at that and she laughed, her head pounding with a headache now.

"I'll let you practice, okay?" He stood and left her room, Rachel watching him intently. When the door shut, Rachel collapsed on her bed. She was tired, her head was pounding and she needed to practice the song for her solo. Letting out a tired breath, she stood and went to her iHome, restarting the song.

* * *

The next morning, Rachel woke up with tired eyes and a slightly sore throat. Hopping downstairs, she was met by her dad with a large cup of piping hot tea.

"Are you ready for your solo?" He asked enthusiastically as she took a quick sip of the tea, "I know it isn't your first, but it's the first one to have here in Lima in a long time." She smiled at her dad and nodded,

"I am so excited for you to hear what I sound like now that I have had some time on Broadway." She took another quick sip of the tea and sat at the island on the padded barstool.

"You know," Her dad mused, tilting his head at her, "You scared your daddy half to death when he caught you and Noah. I think I would have thrown Mr. Puckerman out if I would have caught him, but I know you two have had relations before and that won't stop you." Rachel couldn't help but laugh at the thought of her dad; five foot eight, balding, small statured and with his thick glasses trying to haul an ex marine off of his daughter and out of his house. "What? You don't think I can wrestle Noah out of the house?"

"Of course I would choose you in that scuffle, Dad. I just think it would be hilarious to see!" Her dad smiled and rolled his eyes at her before she grabbed an apple and made her way back upstairs. She didn't leave her room the entire day except for meals. She received calls from Artie and Mercedes and Noah, but didn't answer any of them. Noah began to call a lot and she eventually had to answer,

"Noah! Please stop calling in five minute intervals, I need to practice for tomorrow!" She heard his deep chuckle from the other end and a sigh,

"I was hoping that was your reasoning and not because of what happened. I…I'm not going to lie Rachel, I've been freaking out." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows as she sat on her computer chair, her knees hugged to her chest, "I mean, you were _engaged_ to another man."

"I-I know Noah, but I-,"

"I wanna make sure that this is-,"

"Noah, Victor and I are done-,"

"Rachel, I want to take you on a date tonight." Rachel stopped and her throat constricted, "Rachel?" he said after a moment. Rachel shook her head and coughed out slightly,

"Yeah. Yes, Noah, I would like that."

"I'll pick you up at seven." She could practically hear the smile in his voice. Rachel felt herself smile like how she used to when he tell her he was going to take her on a date.

"I'll be ready. Wait, what're we going to do?"

"Wear something comfortable and old school." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows and scratched her neck,

"Like, a sweater and skirt?" She heard Noah chuckled deeply and sigh,

"Yeah, like that white sweater and blue pleated skirt."

"You know my wardrobe pretty well, Noah Puckerman." She mused and heard him laugh again,

"Naw, I just know the outfits that I really like," she heard the deep growl in his voice and she felt a shiver run up her spine. She loved how he could do that. "I'll see you at seven, Rach."

"Okay, Noah." She whispered out in a husky voice and heard him suck in a breath,

"Bye Rach."

"Bye," She hung up the phone and jumped off of her chair, sprinting into the bathroom. She hadn't been this excited to go on a date since Noah spent an entire three paychecks on tickets to West Side Story, drove her to Cleveland and rented a nice hotel room for the night. She felt kinda horrible about it since he didn't _like_ musicals and still sat through it for her. As she tested the water of her shower and stripped off her pajama's, she thought about the last time she asked Victor to come to one of her plays and he replied that he had his own life and musicals to deal with. That was the weekend she caught him with Shauna who was the female lead in the play he was in. Victor insisted they were just rehearsing but Rachel knew better. She still accepted his apology and let him back in her life. She wondered what he would do when he got the letter. She shut her eyes as she slipped into the shower and let the hot water ease her tension. She wasn't going to think about him right now. She was going to center her thoughts around the date with Noah tonight. Even though Victor continued to interject her thoughts. She didn't know how long she stood there letting her thoughts battle between Victor and Noah, but she snapped out of it when the water that was pelting her was freezing cold. Washing hurriedly, she jumped out of the shower and ran to her room. She needed to focus on one thing and that was getting ready for her date. She felt her heart race at that thought of it and squealed happily.

She had a date with Noah Puckerman!

**Okay, so hopefully a few gaps were filled and it made sense. I know I always say something about making sense but sometimes when I write the chapters, they make sense in my mind and then when I read the finished product, I realize that I thought of connections in my mind and didn't write them down so you, the readers, have NO IDEA (!!) what I'm talking about. But R & R and tell me what you think of this chapter! ^_^ Thanks!!! AND HOPEFULLY EVERYONE HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! **


	15. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! I am sincerely sorry for the lack of updates but my last semester of school was, in lack of a better word, hell. Two cases of Strep Throat and during the second go around I was diagnosed with Mono. -.- Fan-freakin'-tastic I know. Well, then I figured I would have time to work on it over the summer, but I decided to take a class that was writing intensive. Silly me. Well, that class is finally almost over (seriously, the finals due tomorrow) and I wanted to put this chapter out to tell you all I haven't forgotten about it or let the idea die. I do have several versions of this chapter but this is the one that makes the most sense. So I will silence my pathetic blathering and let you all get to reading! ^_^**

Rachel sat on her computer chair trying to call Noah for the fifth time. When she agreed to go on their date she had completely neglected her solo for the Glee production. Again she left a message before getting ready for the invitational. She dressed in a black and tan lingerie style dress. She slipped on her Christian Louboutin pumps and hurried out of the house. She couldn't wait for Puck to call her back any longer. Mr. Schue hurried her into the choir room and she began to warm up with a young man by the name of Keith. He was trying desperately to remember the lyrics to the song she had picked out and was slowly getting overwhelmed. Rachel stopped after a minute and gently clasped his wrist.

"Hey, it's okay. We can get Mr. Schue to do it if it's too much for you. No one will think less of you." He nodded and rubbed his temples. He was having an extremely hard time. Mr. Schue came over after a minute and nodded at the paper. He knew the song fairly well and was sure that the crowd would enjoy it.

"Alright Rachel, after the third song, we'll give the kids a break to change and bring you out. So you keep warming up and I'll get them started." Rachel nodded as he lined the kids up and Micah gave her a quick nod before they strode out into the auditorium. Rachel listened as they began the first chords to Styx song "Renagade". The songs were a range between old school rock and a few holiday songs. Rachel began to get the jitters like how she used to back when she was in Glee. The kids strode off the stage and Diana gave her a two thumbs up and a huge smile as she scurried by. Rachel felt the jitters slip away as she smiled slowly and Mr. Schuester announce that they had a special guest tonight. He announced her name and she strode out to a rambunctious applause. She even spotted her old Glee-mates in the crowd cheering. She cleared her throat quietly as the first few piano chords of the song began.

Rachel sat in the chair backstage listening to the music as the last chord of the song was being belted out. She wasn't sure if Noah had gotten her messages and was sitting at her house waiting, furious that she didn't tell him sooner and second guessing dating her again. These were times where Rachel contemplated smoking. But the chemicals and tar would kill her perfect healthy lungs and then where would she be? Alone in her father's house raising some degenerates illegitimate baby. Rachel took a second to ponder her thoughts and came to the conclusion she was no longer going to be drinking coffee and caffeine free tea, along with water, was her only beverage. The second show had already begun by the time Rachel had calmed herself down. She looked around and honestly didn't know if anyone had tried to communicate with her in that time. Blinking slowly, she checked her cell phone again but still no message. Not even a text. She counted down the time until she was ready to go on and as she walked out she noticed that Mr. Schue wasn't out there. But the chords were beginning. She looked around worried that she would have to sing the male part as well as the female part, but a husky voice broke out instead,

**I know it's late, I know you're weary  
I know your plans don't include me  
Still here we are, both of us lonely  
Longing for shelter from all that we see  
Why should we worry, no one will care, girl,  
Look at the stars so far away  
We've got tonight  
Who needs tomorrow?  
We've got tonight, babe,  
Why don't you stay? **

Noah walked out of the curtains with a cocky smile on his face, probably due to the fact she had a shocked one on hers. Rachel quickly snapped out of it in time to hit her notes.

_Deep in my soul, I've been so lonely  
All of my hopes, fading away  
I've longed for love, like everyone else does  
I know I'll keep searching, even after today_

Noah and Rachel circled each other. It was almost like watching their first performance together; they stared into each other's eyes and souls. The world around them could have been falling down around them and they would have had no idea. The outside world didn't exist. Mr. Schue watched them with a deep appreciation for what they could do with a song.

**So that there it is, girl  
We've got it all now**_  
And here we are  
What do you say?_

_**We've got tonight  
Who needs tomorrow?  
We've got tonight, babe,  
Why don't you stay**__?_

**I know it's late, I know you're weary  
I know your plans don't include me**  
_Still here we are,_

_**Both of us lonely  
Both of us lonely**_

Noah intertwined his fingers with her and squeezed, his body caving downward slightly so he could get a better look into her eyes without their necks straining. Rachel felt her neck extend and her head pull closer to his, her eyes hooded and heart doing a weird flip flop thing that she hadn't felt for years.

**We've got tonight**  
_Who needs tomorrow?_  
**Let's make it last**  
_Let's find a way_  
**Turn out the light**  
_Come take my hand now_  
_**We've got tonight, babe,  
Why don't you stay?**_

_**We've got tonight, babe  
Why don't you stay?**_

The crowd erupted in applause as Rachel and Noah carefully pulled away from one another. Of course though, Rachel let her extreme happiness of an amazing performance and Noah being her partner and leapt onto him in a big hug, almost sending them toppling over.

**I promise to get another chapter up soon and keep you all entertained in this annoying time between seasons. Thanks all!**


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